An international crowd sourcing platform- Talenthouse has given many emerging artiste an opportunity to showcase their talent and provide their creative skills to leading artistes and bands. Global artistes have also seen this as an opportunity for them to get connected with their fans.
Talenthouse India CEO Arun Mehra chats with Radioandmusic.com about the growing trend of international artistes looking towards finding talent in India and how it has added many musical artistes to their pool.
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What makes international artistes look for Indian talent?
In every aspect, the world today cannot ignore a nation like India. We believe every single person of our 1.25 billion people has a creative streak waiting to be discovered. We are sitting on a goldmine of untapped talent who are searching for a platform to showcase their talent and gain recognition.
On Talenthouse, celebrity artists have come on-board purely for engagement purposes. The process helps artist to generate content for the consumers by the consumers that could be put to use on social media and various digital channels to connect with the audience. Associations and engagements are just a click away, the era of online collaborations have begun.
How do you think this trend has helped international artistes in return?
When an artist crowdsources, it tells its followers that I’m (the artist) listening to you and delighted that you are contributing to my idea. I want you to be a part of my success as it belongs to both of us. It also tells them that I appreciate your effort and I’m willing to gratify you for your idea.
How do you see the participation among the fans and audience growing?
Creativity as a genre has mass appeal as everyone considers themselves to be talented hence, the emergence of Creative Crowdsourcing. Over the last one year we managed to add 50 per cent new artist to the already existing artist base. This has been possible due to the renowned brands and celebrities we have been associating with combined with easy to navigate interface of Talenthouse platform making it a creative hub for budding artist looking for opportunities.
Which artistes were a milestone for your company and why?
The Metallica Creative Invite to open for the band at the F1 Rock concert was Talenthouse India’s first project since its launch in 2011. Our team had 10 days to work towards giving one band an extraordinary opportunity to join them on stage to perform as the opening act. We received an overwhelming response of over 100 bands that participated.
The high point was to watch Guillotine the band that won perform and deliver not just to fulfil their dream but also this music project kick started Talenthouse operations in India officially.
We are a platform created by the artists for the artists. Talenthouse is committed to giving an equal chance to every creative artist looking for a platform to showcase their work. Hence, every project we undertake is important as our objective is to leave each one of our artist as a winner. The one’s that stand out would be Metallica – open for the band at the India concert, Shaan – remix his song Naina, Eric Clapton – instrumental cover versions for Cocaine as they have huge fan following in India.
How has it encouraged other artistes to join the league?
Crowdsourcing is not just a buzzword. It provides a multitude of ways to gather ideas, opinions and feedback. Brands and artists that have opened up to crowdsourcing have gained a deeper understanding of their audience. This enables them to effectively communicate with its users and also allow them to actively participate in the engagement process.
It’s a wonderful feeling when globally renowned celebrities like Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Naomi Campbell, etc. not only appreciate the platform but also want to undertake initiatives with us. Working with them has been fantastic. Mentors look at Talenthouse as a platform to give back to the society, what they have gained from it. Today, we can boast of over 3,00,000 globally registered budding and established artists on the website.
What are general expectations among the artistes with the deal they sign with you?
Artists come on-board with only one expectation that is to engage and directly communicate with their audience globally. Whilst Talenthouse boast of a large artist base we also focus on quality along with quantity. Our objective is to generate content high enough to be consumed by the artists.
How has crowdsourcing gained importance in music in recent times?
Whether a celebrity artist or a brand the aim is to engage the creative community in area of their interest and today’s youth are more equipped with skills which can be targeted even if they don’t belong to the fraternity one such easy to participate and engage genre has been music e.g. Big CBS Love extend the excitement and anticipation that is involved in watching the most popular music reality show American Idol by selecting two talented singers from India Jasmine Saxena and Nisa Schette to by giving them an experience of a lifetime to witness American Idol live in Loss Angeles in the second week of May, 2013.
Apart from music, which areas have accepted crowd sourcing?
Brands and celebrities approach Talenthouse for innovative campaigns under Films, Fashion, Music, Art/ Design, and Photography.Musicians are using all genres to crowdsourcing and connect with fans e.g. No Doubt invited designs for their album Settle Down, David Guetta invited for shoe designs, Linking Park for Tee Shirt design, Green Day for a film etc.
How do you plan to get on board more such projects like one with Eric Claypton, David Guetta and Green Day and so on?
Talenthouse the world’s largest online platform for creative collaborations provides celebrity artists and brands to connect with their audience and in the process undertake an extended Campaign influential enough for larger engagement. The aim is to work with art that spreads across and create content that consumers visually enjoy give it a life of its own while it starts to go viral. Talenthouse promotes the cream of the creative industries hence, have a positive rub-off on their audience in turn.
