The trending use of audio-only platforms by musicians to engage with audiences

Ask any musician what thrills them the most about being an artiste and chances are that the answer will be to watch audience members go nuts while they are playing live on stage Well itrsquos tough luck for them in that case because the pandemic has brought the curtains down on physical gigs in India at least for a while But in the meantime many musicians have taken to a different way of engaging with listeners mdash audioonly platforms like Discord and Clubhouse These apps offer chat rooms where likeminded people get together virtually to talk about a specific subject and when musicians utilise the same it helps them build a sense of community with their patrons at a time when physical forms of interaction are out of the questionClubhouse has different chat rooms where people can opt to just listenSimple enough But why is it that artistes are turning towards these apps when they already had the option of existing ones like Instagram and Facebook Sambit Chatterjee a drummer who plays with multiple indie acts feels that one reason is because people have started feeling saturated with the visual medium ldquoInsta Reels got to people like us who are not into Tik Tok because after a point when you keep swiping mindlessly you are into what you are watching and at the same time you are not But with these audioonly platforms you are in the circle because you are completely interested in it Itrsquos brought the concept of just sitting and listening to something back againrdquo he saysIn it togetherAnkur Tewari PicPrarthna SinghChatterjee who runs a club on Clubhouse called Indian Drumming Community adds that it also helps that these platforms donrsquot bother with lsquolikesrsquo and lsquodislikesrsquo ldquoThere is no opinionated vandalismrdquo he feels Then therersquos the fact that they do facilitate a genuine sense of community ldquoIt helps bring in more enthusiasts to make the indie music circle larger And itrsquos also worthwhile to let other people know that running your household as an independent musician in India is indeed possible I have been doing it for eight years now and a lot of kids are uncomfortable about asking questions Clubhouse and Discord give them a voice Youngsters who would have never gotten in touch with Gino Banks hersquos also part of Indian Drumming Community or me can now directly ask us about their doubts which can have a huge impact on their brainrdquo Chatterjee explainsPersonality mattersSambit ChatterjeeThe point that hersquos making here is something that singersongwriter Ankur Tewari agrees with ldquoI feel that thatrsquos what we are trying to do find likeminded people who understand what you are going through as an artiste When an audience encourages a conversation you feel that you are not alone which is always healing because a lot of our work is done in solituderdquo says Tewari who is a Clubhouse user tooHe also tells us that a lot of it has to do with a particular artistersquos personality ldquoSome musicians like openair festivals and others like club gigs Similarly some of them might be more comfortable on Instagram while others prefer Clubhouse because they canrsquot be seen and that sense of anonymity suits themrdquo Tewari reasons adding that the pandemic gave a fillip to these mediums because people werenrsquot meeting others and visually their eyes were getting tired because of excessive screen time ldquoIt was thus interesting to have a peek into someone elsersquos life without any imagery involvedrdquo he saysFair point But the question is will this trend sustain even after our social lives get back to normal It depends Tewari says on how these platforms reinvent themselves Chatterjee though feels that since both these apps require a fair bit of time hersquos unsure about their popularity once people are on the move again ldquoI donrsquot know how much of the hitandrun audience on these apps will stayrdquo he says meaning that the jury is still out on this question Itrsquos only time that will tell