CA Media Digital's first venture-Fluence, has come a long way since its inception. The company has been looking after digital rights of musicians, authors, actors and cricketers and is taking smaller steps, says former label executive and Fluence VP digital and business head Ashish Joshi. He said that the company hopes to sign 50 artists by the end of this year and also revealed future plans.

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Tell us about Fluence, CA Media Digital's first venture.

At Fluence, we have a unique model, where we look after the digital rights of celebrities. Right from social media to ways of monetising digital content across various medium; that is our area of expertise. We deploy their digital assets across various platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Telcos and many other platforms. Our aim is to sign iconic artists like Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Sonu Nigam, and also work along with upcoming talents like Armaan Malik. He is part of our roster and we are helping him built his own YouTube channel. Malik’s channel will include a mix of content created by him.

Tell us about your association with MCNs (Multi-channel networks)?

We have partnered with many MCNs in the country. We work closely with the artists who want to become influencers and help them build their YouTube channel through MCNs. I would love to partner with upcoming and talented singers who have an ability to create an impact digitally.

Fluence, which is part of The Chernin Group (TCG), has invested in the largest MCNs in the world. The group owns MCN like Fullscreen, which is why we at Fluence understand the space very well. 

However, that does not stop us from working with other MCNs in the country like One Digital and Ping network. I am open for any form of partnerships that would help my artists. These are our preferred partners, but we might join hands with new networks in the future .

Which are the other musicians/ artists that you are working with now?

Right now, we have two renowned musicians and a budding musician. We are not signing many artists because we are taking baby steps. We signed Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan. Then, we explored our relationship with YRF talent as they have a roster of talented artists like Arjun Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Anushka Sharma, Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra.

We have also signed some legendary artists like Sonu Nigam and Shaan. Then, we ventured into the regional space by working with Rajinikanth, Mohanlal and Manju Warrier. The idea is to build existing partnerships rather than just signing new artists.

What is your association with Rdio?

We associated with Rdio to create playlists for Shaan, Sonu Nigam, Salman Khan and other artists under us, and we put across their playlists on Rdio. It is the second largest music streaming site and it is one of the international music sites in India. We take pride in associating with large scale operators like Rdio, who has the capability and might to think differently. The partnership was not just about creating playlists, but also about managing an activity in that space. It is the innovation and scale of Rdio that forced us to join hands with them. Other than Rdio, we are associated with messaging service Viber as well.

Will Fluence partner with any other music streaming services?

We do not plan to partner with any other streaming sites as of now. They are doing some brilliant activities for our artists, but in the future if the need arises we might shift focus to some other streaming services. As of now, we have a steady partnership with Rdio. There are playlists for likes of Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh on Rdio.

Will there be any other association in the messaging space?

It is too early to comment but there is something in pipeline. There are many more chat and dating apps in the market. We will work with all the apps that realise the importance of celebrity fan base, which will help them drive more traffic to their platforms. It is a win-win situation for all parties involved in the process.

What has the traction been like for musicians like Sonu Nigam and Shaan after you’ll took over?

When we partnered with Sonu Nigam, he had 11 million likes on Facebook and the reach and impressions of posts were very low. After we started working with tech-savvy Sonu and put forth various strategies for him, he has around 18 million fans on Facebook and the post reach has gone up seven to eight times.

With Shaan, things were different as we had to launch him on social media and now he is very active. With both artists, the challenges were completely different. Today, Shaan is part of Wechat, Viber and has a Rdio association as well.

Now, Sonu Nigam is getting all aggressive on his YouTube channel. He has decided to have a fan version of his track ‘Trini Ladki’. The video is a tribute to all his fans.

How much has Fluence grown?

We started with two or three artists in 2013 and now in 2015 have 33 . We reach out to 100 million plus social media fans today, if we put all our artists together. Every month, we have around one billion impressions. We have been growing and will continue to grow with the array of artists we sign.

Which other space will you explore?

We have slowly and gradually expanded in different areas. We have musicians, actors, photographers and cricketers in our repertoire. We would also like to add names from fashion, economy, astrology and comedy. We will expand in sports other than cricket. In the near future, our focus will also be regional artists. We have Bhojpuri artists and also wish to associate with Punjabi and Southern artists as well.

What is next for Fluence?

We will continue to grow the social media presence of artists by increasing their reach and impressions. We are in the process of building digital IPs or content for our artists that could spread across various platforms. We are launching our very own direct-to-consumer platform. It could be a platform that can have a mix of content with a virality and social media angle. We will also try to monetise all the digital IPs we have created and we want to start services on our own that can reach out to various fans.

How many artists do you plan to associate with this year?

We plan to have 50 artists by the end of this year. We want to add value to all the artists we sign.