MUMBAI: Rolling’stache Music, a YouTube channel, aspires to be a free stage that features smaller, lesser known music bands in India, and where people can discover new music. Its aim is to build a subscriber base for avid listeners and musicians alike, so that bands will not have to depend on larger organisations to become popular. Another of Rolling’stache Music’s objectives is to reach out to home producers and composers who do not perform at gigs. Rolling’stache Music, Managing Partner/Editor, Akshay Rajan said to Radioandmusic.com's Aashay Dalvi, “This stage would be a great place for such artistes to let their music reach out to a wider audience. We are currently keeping an eye out for growing talent and have approached more bands. Once we gain a certain number of followers, we will start featuring artiste videos.”

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Would you identify yourself as an artiste management agency? If so, how would you differentiate yourself from other such brands?

We curate music. We try not to put ourselves forward as an agency. Instead, we try to encourage direct interaction with bands. We do not wish to be another middleman between bands and people who require music. These kinds of organisations tend to hinder small bands by taking a cut of the profits, which is more needed by bands at this level. Hence all videos uploaded have direct links to the bands' social media so that they get popular and it helps them grow. We are more like the megaphone for indie artistes and the new voices that are creating really good music that deserves recognition.

While promoting the music for an artiste, do you acquire music rights for the same?

It has not been monetised yet, but in the coming months, we want to implement this and will acquire the necessary permissions. As of now, we simply ask artistes if they wish to be featured, and do so if they are interested. However, the rights of all the music posted on the channel remains with the artistes themselves. We simply curate their music. We do not ask for any investments from musicians or the rights to their music.

Before Rolling'stache re-branded itself, were you just actively involved in promoting lesser known music artistes?

We were initially working freelance under the unregistered name ‘Total Jugaad Studios’. Our main service was and still is video production. We do have an in-house solution for the music requirement of these projects. This channel has been in the pipeline for quite some time. However, we have only now been able to invest money and time in the animation and reach required for the channel. We are working on ways to ensure that this continues to remain a free stage for Indian musicians.

How involved have you been with the promotion of an artiste?

Artistes send us their recordings (graded as Studio, Home and Live recordings). Some of our artistes have album art of their own. But in case they do not have artwork, we set aside time to design it for them, free of charge, based on pictures or art they give us. Depending on the response we get, we are able to set aside more for our artistes, including helping them record, mix and with time, even create music videos. We hope to create a team and re-brand and, with time, launch artiste feature videos, interviews, music videos, etc.

What are the various means of revenue generation for Rolling'stache Music?

We believe that the monetisation of the channel will cover the expenses we have incurred so far, and with time, enable us to grow and invest more on the channel as mentioned above. There are no other sources of income so far because, like we said, it is free for everyone.

Do you have a primary investor on board?

No. We have set aside time and money from the parent studio (Rolling'stache Studios) which has a steady source of income from corporate videos and animation projects.

In addition to Tejas Menon and Chetana Kinger, which other artistes have you roped in?

Currently, in addition to Tejas and Ché, we have Jaagar, Kc Vlaine, and Brahma Naad from Mumbai and Pune. We also have The NonViolinist Project (Shravan Sridhar) from Chennai, our first artiste from outside our home cities.

Where do you see Rolling'stache Music in the next couple of years?

We aim to grow with time and realise our dream of being a free stage for artistes and a place for music aficionados in and out of India to discover new music. The interest that we are seeing in this initiative from artistes and the support we are getting from like-minded people will definitely see us achieve this.