MUMBAI: Barely 24 days after launching online with test signals, Radio Whiskey has expanded its repertoire by signing around 25-27 independent artistes from across cities. The internet radio is all geared to unveil new initiatives and widen its listenership.
Whiskey’s find Vyom Singh, lead vocalist of the Lucknow based rock band ‘Mayavii’ has bagged two bollywood offers after releasing his tracks exclusively on the internet station including the single ‘saaton paharia’. The singer-songwriter has performed extensively with his band and his forte lies in penning romantic ballads and rock compositions.
The singer will render a self composed comedy track for an upcoming film tentatively titled ‘Pareshaanpur’ and will compose three songs –bhajan, rock composition and a Holi celebratory song for another film titled ‘Ucchake’.
Talking about his bollywood projects, Singh states, “I am really thankful to Radio Whiskey for giving me the platform to present my tracks which have today garnered me two bollywood projects. This is my first step in bollywood and if my work is good I know I will be appreciated in the industry as well.”
The radio station had initially launched with around seven independent artistes from countries like India, Pakistan, UAE, UK and US, playing unheard tracks of various genres. It has now become a platform for independent artistes looking for avenues and opportunities to enter bollywood. Speaking about the initiatives with Radioandmusic.com, Radio Whiskey co-founder Madhukar Pandey says, “We do not mind being a credible platform for our artistes who are getting an opportunity to work in bollywood. Infact we are very proud of them and have even initiated a small animated segment congratulating Vyom on his achievement. Initially it was difficult to convince the artistes to release their exclusive songs with us but it’s great to see the faith they have shown in us.”
Promotions to such a large level require revenue and monetary gains through advertisements and sales but the online station has taken the unconventional route of keeping the site clean of ads and will only feature their audio formats in the link for a maximum of 75 minutes in 24 hours, amounting to a total of three minutes of advertising in an hour block.
Pandey justifies, “We are willing to take that risk by limiting the advertisements on our site to merely 75 minutes a day as investors are already queuing up and we are in the process of pricing and approaching advertisers eventually. We do not feel we are cheating the advertisers as listeners can always minimize the site and hear the music so you may not notice ads, but if they are in the audio format you cannot refrain from hearing them so it is infact a good move.”
The radio station has planned several new initiatives and strategies to move to the next level. Having ascertained its peak time band as the night band from 7pm onwards, the station is in talks with an ex-RJ of a leading station to produce a talk show featuring taboo and bold topics.
Radio Whiskey also released an exclusive Bengali folk song which garnered positive responses from listeners in cities like Pune and Ahmedabad. They have also signed on two new artistes namely Binny Sharma and Rahul. While the agreement for Rahul is still pending, the station has acquired five tracks from Sharma which feature distinct styles like romance, youth fun, college energy and a Bengali track.
With the introduction of several new initiatives, Radio Whiskey has also come up with a new way to gauge responses generated by the listeners for various tracks. The ‘like’ button with every track ensures that the response good or bad is registered with the team which helps in then categorizing the tracks for repetition and rotation.
With the aim of keeping itself as a niche music loving station, Radio Whiskey aims to stand apart from the rest of the herd by constantly innovating itself and evolving with the changing palette of youth listeners within its target.