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Localturnon is a platform for Artists like Musicians, Bands, Singers, Dancers, DJs, Anchors founded by Tajinder.
We have over 700 music dance centres listed for people who want to learn. We work with over 500 Music Bands, Musicians, Dancers, DJs, Anchors to get them gigs, paid opportunity in events, says Tajinde.
We got an opportunity to talk with Tajinder, and see what he has to say. I am sure his interview with us will inspire you.
Give a brief info about your startup?
Localturnon is a Music Dance Connect Platform that brings the Artists (be it Musicians, Bands, Singers, Dancers, DJs, Anchors) closer to the audience. We encourage new talent to get an opportunity to showcase their skills and also promote business for established artists by placing them in paid events
We have over 700 music dance centres listed for people who want to learn. We work with over 500 Music Bands, Musicians, Dancers, DJs, Anchors to get them gigs, paid opportunity in events.
Also as part of the extended eco-system, we do our own events, support corporate functions, college fests, Society functions thereby completing the 360* for the Music Dance Connect Platform.
Our preamble remains in Music & Dance and to Find, Connect and PlayOn to your favourite moods.
What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?
Music is like IPL (cricket) in India. There are the top 11 in Cricket who play for India and everyone knows about them. The Kholis, Dhonis and Rohits etc. Similarly, in Music the top Artists is whom everyone knows like Rahman, Lata, Asha, Shaan, Sonu Nigam
Below them in Cricket you have the IPL / The Ranji Cricketers who aspire that they will grow to the next level. IN Music the popular artists, the artists with select hit songs or the ones in AIR (senior grade artists) are similar.
But like in cricket there exists in Music a whole lot of volume in terms of numbers, talent, infact India is a place where har galimein cricketer hai tohussigalimein Musician or Dancer bhi hai. But in both cases, talent needs support and opportunity to showcase and thats what Localturnon aspires to do in Music and Dance.
We have encouraged new bands, upcoming artists for the last 2 years and have been supporting/promoting them. For the Child Artists we do it free of cost.
Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?
I was at a senior management position with some of India’s top companies till 2015. My last assignment was as a global Consultant for Digital Marketing in Telecom, Retail, Banking and Media.
I ventured out in Oct 2015 when I saw an opportunity to work with some of the talented musicians and entertainers. The exact scene If I can replay is that a IPL Match and a Live Band playing at the same time is what evoked the thought, the comparison.
The interesting thing is that I have no background in music. So I spent one year and half in close proximity to the musicians, the events, the clubs and infact lapped up anything written / published in the papers, media about entertainment. It was essential for me to get close to the industry I was trying to get into.
I must have met over 200 artists in the span of 1.5 years (from 2015 to 2017) before I actually started the commercial model for the venture. We grew presence on social media and also connects with artists in this p[hase.
Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?
We are currently based in Noida but have a very good reach and connect in Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Kolkata and Pune. We are trying to set up base in other cities in this year. The best place is obviously near to the artists and that can be anywhere. In this industry it pays if you can maintain a direct connect, meet people and are close to hubs where there is activity in terms of events, entertainment in general.
As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?
Paranoid about a lot of things. We have broken into a very unorganized sector where people are bound to be sckeptical, afraid or hestitant and there are cartels, politics in some ways. But therein lies the opportunity.
Reputation and ensuring that we deliver value to our customers remains the single most focus for us.
Who are your competitions and how are you better than them?
To be honest, competition exists in every sphere and any event management company, any artist management company will be a direct or indirect competitor. But space where we are in terms of promoting new and emerging talent is that it is lesser as it needs investment initially and payoffs happen over time.
How hard is it to have a work life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?
The weekly cycle for me has shifted. In the event space the peak days are the weekends. So Earlier in my corporate stints if the regular Saturdays and Sundays were off … now its Mondays and Tuesdays.
Have always been a 70 hours per week or more kind of a routine for me earlier and that continues. The only difference is its less of presentations and analysis and number crunching but more of meetings, coordination, execution and attending events included as well.
Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you are looking to raise.
No. We haven’t raised any funding so far. We should hit the Rs 10 lac mark in Revenues this Fiscal. The idea is to consolidate and experiment in all ways before we go to the investors. Which should happen anytime now. We have experimented with portals, events, artist promotions, collaborations, and have a very good sense of how to crack the market. We have been able to finetune the business model. We have seen three cycles of the business and this insight is something that is invaluable from a business perspective.
Yes, we will need funds to grow and expand and we are looking to divest 12-15% equity share to raise around 900,000 USD initially and then take it from thereon.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about you? Why do they have that? What’s the reality?
People think that it’s very easy to do events as they are on the customer side of things. It one thing to enter a venue with a ticket and sit and enjoy a concert but there is whole machinery that works in the backend to ensure its success. Simple things like Artist entry on stage, the timings, the sound checks, the whole set up of stage and lights, the promotion its like running a marketing campaign cum executing the product delivery and taking into account the regulatory or statutory compliances every time makes it more tedious than a product launch.
What gets you excited about this company?
Well at the end of the day you have something to calls yours. You set it up, you know the inside story, the struggle, the way it all started with a simple discussion, the time and effort invested. Its been exciting so far. As they say so far so very good and hopefully we shall get to our next milestone soon.
Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.
A typical day starts by looking at the meetings or the calls for the day, follow up on leads or requests from musicians, anchors, bands for collaboration. We also scout for opportunities to do corporate events and thus keep watching that space as well. In between the social media campaigns, the events for the day coordination like an artist on time, venue connects, sound checks sometimes, all this takes up time too. It usually ends late as we always ensure a follow up on all events we are part of. Also, Artist welfare is important so we do keep in touch all the time. Before going to bed it used to be a book or an article on management. Nowadays its usually a video or album of a trending song, artists etc. Its a more entertaining life to be honest!
Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?
Its a small team as of now. We have two full-timers, some outsourced members who support the online, social media vertical. In fact, there is a housewife who works from home. She is the spouse of a colleague with whom I had worked during my corporate days. Trust comes easy in such cases and she is an asset to the team.
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