Airtel set to launch online concerts on Wynk Music; begins pilots

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has started pilots for hosting live online concerts on its Wynk Music app, according to a source.

The move is aimed at expanding the adoption of streaming platforms and comes at a time when the coronavirus pandemic triggered movement restrictions, and social distancing norms are prompting performing artists to explore live steaming and virtual concerts.

Wynk Music has already done two live concerts in the past one month to validate the technology and plans are underway to launch the platform under the #WynkConcerts umbrella by as early as next month, a source told PTI.

Airtel declined to comment on an e-mail query.

The source, meanwhile, said that Airtel's live concert technology platform has been developed completely in-house and is designed to handle lakhs of users concurrently.

Over 35,000 concurrent users attended a recent live concert by singer Astha Gill and the results from the pilot have encouraged the Wynk Music team to accelerate the launch process, the source added.

With music recordings coming to a complete standstill due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, Wynk Music's online concerts are aimed at offering artists the opportunity to connect digitally with fans and even share fresh content in a live environment.

The source said that since social distancing norms are likely to be around in the foreseeable future, digital music concerts could well become a mainstay and bring the concert industry online in a big way.

Virtual concerts also come with certain advantages, the source said adding that millions versus thousands can attend these concerts at one time without location barriers or constraints of venue capacity or safety issues.

"Wynk Music has big plans for this segment where it has a potential headstart. The app is already leading in India in terms of daily active users and has access to all top record labels and artists. Talks are already underway to rope in big international and Indian artists. Even emerging artists will be able to use the platform to find new fans," the source added.