You’re walking in London’s Hyde Park when you’re seized by the memory of a Carnatic number you listened to as a child. It’s not stored on your iPod, but you want to hear it immediately. All you need to do is Twaang.
Twaang, soft-launched on September 19, is a mobile-based music streaming service that provides legal, quality music on demand, via Wi-Fi and 3G/4G.
The free app is available on Android smartphones. It allows users to access its content, spanning various genres of Indian music. You can search for a song, and listen to it in real time, wherever you are. You can even create your own playlist stacked with your favourites or choose from the app’s recommended playlist.
Larger library
The app can do everything your music player does, but it provides access to a larger library. It focusses on Carnatic and Hindustani music and Indian fusion. It has a good collection of Tamil and Malayalam film songs too, but the USP remains desi , non-film music.
The minute news of Twaang’s soft launch went up on Facebook, nearly 6,000 requests poured in. Friends and Twaang co-founders Vishnu and Shirish Hirekodi (based in Bangalore) have already sent out about 30 beta invites. “Initially, the app is on invite only. Once it is fully up and running, it can handle innumerable users,” says Vishnu.
The founders, both software engineers, plan to bring in a paid model as well, next year. This version will not have advertisements and will co-exist with the free model. Its users will have the option of streaming music offline too. Listeners can also purchase the tracks through the app.
As for Twaang’s origins, the setting was not exactly Hyde Park. It happened sometime in March 2012 in the midst of one of Bangalore’s infamous traffic snarls. Vishnu forgot his iPod back home and had to settle for the radio. He found a song that he loved, but there was a loud RJ to contend with. That’s when the idea of an app for mobile music struck him.
“I realised that it was difficult to find good music on demand. Even in your own music player, the sounds are limited. You can only listen to what you have, not what you want,” he says.
It helped that both he and Shirish had a huge collection of Indian music — classical, fusion, and folk. They got in touch with record labels, artistes and brought them on board.
“We had many brainstorming sessions. We ran a few ideas past each other. We came up with prototypes…” says Vishnu. Twaang now has access to 70,000 tracks from record labels, besides those from independent musicians.
Interacting with the artistes was “pleasantly surprising”. They’ve tied up with Shubha Mudgal and flautist Pravin Godkhindi, among others. The musicians create music and give Twaang the recording. They get a share in the revenue.
Pravin, known for his Hindustani and fusion music, even sent them a photograph of his that said: ‘I’m on Twaang’.
Shirish says that musicians are very interested in the app. It breaks barriers and assures visibility. Also, compared to the conventional model, the cost and logistics involved are far lesser, he adds.
In the near future, Twaang also wants to be a launch pad for new artistes, bands and independent musicians.
Visit them at www.facebook.com/twaang
