It’s been a good, great and excellent year for Spotify so far. A few months ago it introduced a redesign of the music and podcast streaming app, making the discovery of new content easier and fun. And then it was heard that the service now has 515 million monthly active users (MAUs), representing a five per cent increase on the previous quarter and 22 per cent increase on the corresponding period last year. These are massive jumps.
Another important milestone has been achieved — Spotify’s global emerging artiste programme, RADAR, has completed three years in India. Since 2020, RADAR has been spotlighting rising talent in music across 25-plus regions where Spotify is available. In India, 36 artistes have been a part of the programme which has allowed them to reach listeners in India, and across the world. The list features names like F16s, Kanishk Seth, Parekh & Singh, OAFF & Kayan, Akanksha Bhandari, Mali, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, When Chai Met Toast, Dhruv Visvanath, Naalayak, Anand Bhaskar Collective… these are some top-drawer names.
‘I was able to have my music heard’
Who better to ask how RADAR has helped than the indie artiste Mali? “Being the first RADAR artiste in India, I didn’t know what to expect back in 2020 when I got picked. It was the start of the pandemic and I had a few singles and an album in the pipeline during a very uncertain time for music creation/ consumption. With Spotify’s support I was able to have my music heard in various parts of the country and the world while not having left the house. There are people who discovered me through this programme that are still committed followers and supporters of my art and I’m ever grateful to Spotify for picking me,” says Mali.
For the 29-year-old singer, music has always been a passion and the album that changed her life is a toss “between Emily King’s The Switch and Dead & Born & Grown’s The Staves”. “Both changed the way I think about songwriting and composition when I first discovered them,” she says.
The impact of RADAR cannot be underestimated, especially when one considers how it has transformed the independent music ecosystem in India. The artistes who’ve been a part of the programme have picked up more than 35 million streams in total for the songs that were selected to be part of RADAR.
Take the case of music producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist OAFF. “RADAR has helped me a lot with getting my independent music out to the world. It’s always amazing to see a bigger audience resonate with your music and RADAR helped me greatly with that trajectory,” says the musician. His life-changing music journey has a lot to do with the moment his father gifted him Pink Floyd’s Pulse when he left for boarding school in grade six. “I must have heard that album countless times there and it really had a big impact on my taste and aesthetics,” says OAFF.
On average, RADAR India artistes have seen a 20-25 per cent increase in followers after being playlisted, while artists such as Akshath, Tanmaya Bhatnagar, and Naalayak have seen a growth of over 30 per cent in streams after being featured on RADAR. Other artistes, such as OAFF and Kanishk Seth, found success in film music after being featured on RADAR.
The platform is about giving direction to an artiste’s community-building skills. For singer-songwriter Akankshaa Bhandari RADAR has been helping build her “own community who enjoy my music. It’s great to see people support my work and it’s really humbling,” she says. For Bhandari, the album that inspired her to work on her music and emotions is Jasmine Sandlas’ What’s in the Name.
‘People enjoy original music’
When we spoke to singer Shreya Jain, she pointed out the motivation factor of RADAR. “It gave me a stage where I performed my original set for the first time with my band, and realised nothing is as good as seeing people enjoy your original music,” says Jain. Though Nine Track Mind by Charlie Puth has influenced her, she grew up listening to Hindustani classical music and never used to listen to English songs before she came across this album. “It definitely played a very important role in my musical journey because it changed the sound of my music. I started production after I discovered the album and I think it’s the reason my sound is so modern and pop,” says Jain.
Each month’s RADAR artiste is provided with marketing support through social media, content marketing, and on- and off-platform support. Spotify’s flagship playlist, RADAR India, has 75 songs featuring several emerging artistes, creating over four million new user-artiste discoveries over the last year.
We caught up with Utsavi Jha, asking her if the platform helped her. “Apart from taking my music to a bigger listener base, which is challenging for an indie artiste to reach, more importantly, the RADAR playlist and being a RADAR artiste made me a more confident musician, and someone who has felt surer of her music and is more motivated to keep going in the right direction. That kind of support is so important for an indie artiste doing everything herself. It also added much more credibility to my overall artiste presence with the stellar RADAR live show earlier this month. Not to forget, the unforgettable highs in my musical journey with the RADAR FCB football match feature. For this and everything else, I’m so grateful,” says Jha.
As Jha moves from recording one song to another, she can’t forget the effect Sara Bareilles’ album The Blessed Unrest had on her. “When I started writing and listening to English music in 2012, her songs inspired me to strive to write a really good song. And this particular album is so brilliant lyrically, melodically, musically and vocally — a great example of how original an artiste can actually sound, and how they can experiment with their different musical skills.”
It’s not much different for singer-songwriter Kanishk Seth, who was the ‘artiste for the month for the RADAR programme last year for his song Sacha saheb. “The entire team at Spotify made sure the song was released and positioned well, pushing it in the right direction, cultivating a strong audience base. RADAR has almost been like an artist management team and a great platform for all independent artistes in India where if you have good music, you really don’t have to think too much. You just need to pitch your music to Spotify, and if it’s worth it you get featured in this wonderful programme,” says Seth whose Trance with Khusrow “was a really transforming time for me because even I didn’t know what I had made and I didn’t realise how much it was impacting others, because at that time I was also discovering my own sound which was a blend of Indian classical with electronic music”.
RADAR is cornerstone to Spotify’s success among young listeners who continuously root for independent musicians, and Rahul Balyan, head of music, Spotify, understands it. “We are proud to celebrate the three-year milestone of RADAR India, which has grown to become the default launch pad for new independent artistes. Over the last three years, RADAR India has been part of the journey of some of the biggest breakout artistes in the country. We also recently launched RADAR Tamil to provide a dedicated programme and support for Tamil independent artistes. We are committed to making a more artist-centric music ecosystem and will continue to invest in such programmes”.
Like singer-songwriter Raghav Meattle says, “It gives artists a push like no other platform in India. It’s helped build a belief that there’s space for newer artists to grow and spread their voices.” Of course, we didn’t forget to ask him about the album that’s special to him. “Room for Squares by John Mayer. It taught me how music can be intelligent, yet accessible to a lot of people.”
Picture: Spotify