Mumbai: TuneCore Grant, which is a leading independent development partner for self-releasing artists to build audiences and careers.
Recently, they have completed its third edition of the TuneCore Grant program for South India. The latest edition provided endowments of Rs 100,000 each to four independent artists who perform in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam respectively.
Artists can enter by submitting a single to be judged by a panel of industry experts consisting of Sam C.S (music composer), Ghibran (music composer), Neha Nair (singer/songwriter) and Padmanaban N.S. (Head of Artist and Label Partnerships).
Indiantelevision.com reached out to Akhila Shankar, Head of TuneCore, South Asia. During the conversation, Shankar delved more on their Tunecore Grant program, rise of independent music and more….
Edited excerpts
On TuneCore providing opportunities for artists from tier 3 and 4 markets, particularly in South India, through initiatives like the TuneCore Grant program
When it comes to TuneCore’s larger mission of serving local artists and labels in the early stages of their development, localisation is key. TuneCore is the only global distributor to offer local pricing in Rs, and also happens to be one of the most affordable distribution plans in the market that allows artists to keep 100% of their rights. We are deeply committed to building programs like the TuneCore Grant that aid the growth of the industry and help artists overcome obstacles early in their careers. The Grant offers financial aid of Rs 100,000 to independent artists from India to help support their career growth. This year’s Grant was the largest one yet, with winners spanning four languages—Oliver Kim (Singer-songwriter, Kannada), Sumedh K (Singer-songwriter, Kannada), Oorali (Folk-rock, Tamil), Gowwli (Folk-rock, Multi-lingual)—each taking home Rs 100,000. In addition to financially supporting the winners, the Grant also encourages more artists to release music in their native languages. TuneCore saw a 11% increase in the number of releases in the 4 major South languages during the Grant, with Malayalam and Kannada seeing the highest growth.
On your grand plans to support and promote their music careers of the winners of the TuneCore Grant program
The Grant itself is designed to help grow the careers of the winning artists. Current and past winners have found unique ways of utilizing the Grant funds; some have invested in better equipment that helps them make better music, some used the fund to make music videos that helped them expand their fanbase, and some leveraged the Grant money to record and promote new music. The Grant is the first step in a longer commitment to helping artists stay independent and grow in their careers. We’ve worked to create tools and opportunities for our artists through technology, like TuneCore Accelerator, a suite of tools that help artists find new audiences and propel fan discovery at each phase of development. On average, TuneCore artists who have opted into TuneCore Accelerator have seen their streams increase by over 30%. Locally, we also curate playlists like New Music Friday, TuneCore Next, TuneCore Roots and more where we spotlight our artist community, and partner with music festivals to provide live performance opportunities for independent TuneCore artists.
On the growing popularity of independent music and TuneCore’s future in relation to other mainstream genres
The mainstream sounds of tomorrow are the subculture of today. We’ve seen genres like electronic music and hip-hop grow as niche communities before they find their way into the mainstream. In that sense, the trends we see with independent music are a bit of a crystal ball to gaze into the future. In recent years, we’ve seen an incredible uptick in regional language content. This is not unique to music but part of a larger trend where Indian content is finding crossover audiences within the nation and abroad. OTT media services like Netflix have definitely played a role in this. As Indian audiences widen their musical palette across languages, our role is to help artists make better music, be better known and in general make their lives easier so they can do what they do best: focus on making great music. All of our programs and partnerships are geared towards this goal. Our recent partnership with PreSonus gives our artists the ability to distribute their music without leaving the Studio One DAW. Accelerator then helps them find new fans and grow their audiences. TuneCore no longer is just a digital distributor for independent artists, but a development partner helping artists build sustainable careers and shape the future of the music industry at large.
