The democracy of music

Shankar Mahadevan believes that the best way for independent artistes to finance their projects is through crowdfunding, where musicians can raise money for their project by collecting small amounts at a time from their fans or followers.

“I’ve seen a lot of great independent music projects come alive through crowdfunding. Projects like music albums, music tours and music videos of various artists have raised funds through crowdfunding. For instance, I recently came across an artist from Goa, who successfully launched his folk and country music debut album through crowdfunding. Similarly, there have been artists who have been able to showcase their work in different genres and provide the Indian listeners with a great mix in their playlist,” says the singer and music director.

Over the past few years, crowdfunding has indeed opened up vistas for finding financial backing. Artistes are now largely looking at the process over traditional music production methods too, as it provides more creative freedom, thanks to the lack of specific investors to dictate the terms and also because of the lesser pressure for monetary returns.

“Additionally, running a crowdfunding campaign gives artistes an opportunity to spread the word about their project and connect with audiences. Through this process, an artiste can also work towards building his fan community,” he adds.
Little surprise then that it is taking over the industry in a big way.  Shankar says, “More indie artists are resorting to crowdfunding every year, which is amazing, considering that the procedure is still at a nascent stage in the country. Slowly and steadily, more artistes will move to crowdfunding, resulting in more recognition for Indian artistes on international platforms.”

Musicians are now being able to create more music without having to build up their savings or take up a part-time job to fund their project. “This also raises the bar in the quality of the final product. I’ve heard some of the albums by artists like Mame Khan that crowdfunded on Wishberry, and their music is brilliant,” he points out, adding that budding artistes are more successful in raising funds than established ones, as funders tend to draw a stronger emotional connect with emerging talent.

“A lot of times, artists hesitate to reach out and ask their family to fund their project,” sighs Shankar. “The trick to running a successful crowdfunding campaign is to go all out in interacting with the people you know to support your project. About 20 to 30 per cent of the amount raised does come in from anonymous funders. However, to trigger that, your close circuit needs to step up to the occasion first.”