Palash Sen, Ankur Tewari to hit the virtual stage

MUMBAI: Music artistes like Palash Sen, Ankur Tewari and Nikhita Gandhi are set for virtual performances that can be enjoyed by fans in the comfort of their homes.

Concerts, festivals and the live performance circuit have all been shut due to COVID-19, but music lovers can still enjoy the experience of a concert without actually physically attending it!

JioSaavn, a music and audio entertainment streaming service, has announced its initiative to keep live music thriving, and offer alternate revenue streams to artistes.

For the month of April, and possibly longer, a series of independent artistes will take to the virtual stage for 20 to 30-minute sets on JioSaavn's Facebook Live.

After the Facebook Live performances, the audio recording of each session will be hosted as an album for streaming within the JioSaavn app.

Hundred percent of the revenue generated from these streams will go directly to the artiste.

Additionally, while the live streams will be free, fans will be given a "pay what you want" option.

Musician Tejas Menon will begin on April 3.

"It is a difficult time in the world for everyone including independent artistes of India; a niche group of musicians who have always faced odds in order to get their music out there. I'm proud to be in that category, and for us, the universality of the situation just shows how much of the same playing field everyone often is," said Tejas.

"I really think it is our time to evolve and focus on what we do best, which is write and perform our music for the people who care and who are invested in hearing something different and honest and I'm happy that JioSaavn is actively trying to reach out to that community as well; and is providing us with a way to reach even more people at a time where consumption of new music is probably at an all time high," he added.

His gig will be followed by Ankur on April 4, Palash will then perform on April 5. After a brief gap, Nikhita will hit the stage on April 8, followed by Dhruv Vishwanath on April 10 and then Taba Chake on April 11.

Rishi Malhotra, co-founder and CEO at JioSaavn, shared: "We're delivering the closest thing to an in-person live performance you can get. It will feel like the artiste is in your living room."

"And there's no doubt we could all use a little more music in our living rooms right now. Our hope is to provide something for people to look forward to as they stay home, while also supporting independent artistes through an immensely challenging time for the entire music industry. We will be engaging with artistes around the world to be a part of 'JioSaavn Live Anywhere'."