A few months ago, artist-storyteller Raghava KK sent a painting to his friend Madhan Karky . The Chennai-based lyricist was so inspired by it that he penned a few lines and sent it to a music composer, who weaved in a tune. This was then given to a visualiser, who, without knowing anything about the origin of this creative pursuit, created imagery. “Isn’t it beautiful; the way energy flows from one form to another?” says Karky.
He is trying to recreate this through Canvas, a virtual tool that streamlines a content creator’s online presence across platforms and helps create new avenues of income. Conceptualised by entrepreneurs Vignesh Ramaswamy, Raghava KK and Madhan Karky, Canvas hopes to make life easier for creative people.
“Post the pandemic, people are looking at creators in a different light,” explains Vignesh, who has established four start-ups. “The route was always creation, discovery and then monetisation, which is why creators are forced to think about numbers even before embarking on anything. We’ve shifted this model to creation, monetisation, distribution and then discovery,” he says.
Apart from striving to be a safe space for creative pursuits such as art, photography, podcasting, writing, music and filmmaking, it will also offer freedom to its users. For instance, an author can choose to keep his work free, or choose to monetise it partly.
“Imagine if a writer keeps most of his chapters for free and opts for a paid format for the last few portions or its climax; it opens exciting possibilities,” says Karky, who adds that the tool brings together technological offerings that most creative people use (like WordPress, YouTube and Facebook) under one roof.
Canvas, set to roll out in July as an exclusive by-invitation tool, will be launched in India and the US, with Singapore being added later this year.
