Padmanabhan NS, Head of Spotify’s Artist & Label Partnerships in India at the masterclass on ‘Spotify for Artists’ at Hotel Saramati, Dimapur, May 6.
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 6
Padmanabhan NS, Head of Spotify’s Artist & Label Partnerships in India, led a workshop for artists on the workings of the music streaming platform’s ‘Spotify for Artists’ user interface, which allows artists/creators to reach potential audiences. The masterclass, organised by Musik-A and sponsored by the Task Force for Music & Arts (TaFMA), Nagaland, was conducted at Hotel Saramati, Dimapur on May 5. The target audience was people involved in the music business, including artists, managers, producers, distributors, label and A&R representatives.
Padmanabhan led the audience on the tools available on the ‘Spotify for Artists’ platform and how creators can use the tools to manage and promote their music career.
It provides artists, who sign up, with a graphical interface to interact with the Spotify platform, allowing them to access various features, including data analytics to manage and promote their music on the platform. According to Padmanabhan, artists can view insights about their audience, track the performance of their music, manage their artist profile and engage with fans.
“The purpose of this app is enabling musicians to grow and earn from their creations. The app is about enabling and giving an opportunity to artists to connect with an audience,” he said. An artist on tour can customise the setlist basing on the Spotify analytics.
With 489 active monthly users, the platform has 205 million paying subscribers. Padmanabhan said that out of every rupee that Spotify makes, 70 paise goes to the rights holder/creator and till date, the platform has transferred over 30 billion US dollars to the creators/rights holders spread across 180 countries, since it started.
For indie artists, the platform allows them to reach out to niche audiences. “Artists from the northeast have been playlisted in the US market. So the NE has artists being heard in North America,” he said.
According to him, the north-eastern region of India has the talent and potential to make it big in the music business. “We know the talent and potential that is here. You have the gift; you have the way to express yourself via music. Take the step necessary… The world needs to hear your music.”
TaFMA chairperson, Theja Meru, termed the association with Padmanabhan as a big opportunity for artists in Nagaland to promote their music and “break the glass ceiling.” While stating that it was encouraging to witness the music business growing in Nagaland, he said that the knowledge gained via the interaction with a professional from the music industry would help the artists grow further.
He called for dreaming big, removing mental shackles and constantly pushing, while quoting APJ Abdul Kalam’s line, “It's a crime to dream small…”
