Musicfellas.com is an online marketplace for independent artists to sell their songs and albums.
Portal & feature: One can register on the portal using Facebook connect or by providing email address, username and password. The portal lists popular songs and albums on its homepage. One can either play them all at once, add them to queue one by one, or add to playlist. It also allows one to like the song by clicking on heart button, download/buy the song, or share the song on the website to your followers or on Twitter, Facebook, and send it as an email.
Two step download process: When we tried to download a song, it first added the song to the songs purchased page linked to our profile. We had to click on download again to download the free song. However, purchasing a song was a quick and easy process. It appears that Musicfellas uses Paytm payment gateway and thus accepts credit/debit card and netbanking as payment options. Individual songs are available starting at Rs 12 and go up to Rs 60. We found that most of the songs by Indian artists were priced at Rs 12 while the songs by international artists were priced at Rs 59-60. The company claims that it takes 30% of the music revenue sold through its portal, while the rest goes to the independent artist.
The portal allows one to discover songs in genres such as acoustic, alternative, electronic, experimental, among others. It lists featured artists on the browse page and playlists created by other Musicfellas members. Besides browsing portal suggested songs, another way to discover music is through music feed that includes songs liked and shared by members on the portal that one is following. There’s also a radio section that plays songs in genres such as acoustic, rock, metal, alternative, among others. One can like, add to playlist, and download/purchase the song playing on the radio as well. One can also access all their liked songs and playlists at a single location for future plays.
Platforms for independent artists
In July 2012, NH7.in, the music streaming and discovery platform focused on independent music, had tied-up with Indian e-commerce major, Flipkart to launch digital music downloads featuring indepdent music. However, Flipkart shut down its Flyte music store in June 2013. NH7 also provides music by independent artists on its site NH7.in. There’s also OKListen which sells music by independent artists.
In January 2013, Ping Digital Broadcast, an Internet HD videos broadcasting network, had inked a joint venture with OKListen to launch a digital music channel – India Music Network (IMN TV). The channel showcased original music, melodies, and compositions from independent musicians and artists. As per the agreement, OK Listen provides a platform for artists to sell their music, IMN TV was expected to shoot the video and promote it on its YouTube channel.
