Delivering content over the internet to the consumers is the basic definition of an OTT Platform. The contents range from a video (NETFLIX, HULU, Prime Video, etc) to music (Spotify, Hungama, Wynk, etc). As projected by ‘Colorwhistle.com’, there are 40 OTT providers only in India itself and a plethora of others worldwide.
According to KPMG Media and Entertainment Report 2018, the Indian OTT market is expected to increase by 45 per cent and will reach ₹138 billion by the end of fiscal 2023. According to a report by Ernst & Young, the number of OTT users in the country will reach 500 million by 2023 hence making India the second–biggest market after the US.
OTT Platforms work as a great bridge between the artists and their fans to give them a wide reach as well as helping bridge this gap in taking the artist’s content and music to their fans and consumers.
OTT Platforms have now become a mainstream priority for both consumers and developers/creators. This is because there is a great space for creativity, freedom of speech, and openness as well as huge diversity at affordable yet lucrative prices.
Many Indian independent artists along with many others got huge exposure through OTT Platforms like Wynk Music and Spotify.
There has been a huge increase in non-film independent music production with original content. The OTT Platforms have constantly served to bring forth talented artists to the audiences. Also, regional music in languages like Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Telugu, and Malayalam have seen a drastic growth in OTT streaming.
One of the new trends is that two OTT Platforms like Spotify and Amazon Prime have got together to enhance their audience engagement. For example Spotify and Amazon Prime for Mirzapur Music.
These new tech-based Platforms are extremely popular and preferred by the young generation, as they have the knowledge to use them but these Platforms do their best to cater to the Older generation as well and thus keep a simple user interface and a content library for everyone’s preferences.
One of the biggest advantages of OTT Platforms is that new and independent artists now have space and opportunity to grow without committing or depending on big labels or brands. Therefore allowing them to produce quality content over quantity and hence better audience response.
A huge chunk of expense for an independent artist is spent on the production and reaching audiences. Streaming platforms help curb distribution costs because they have aggregated large music streaming audiences the distribution becomes way more efficient.
OTT Platforms has also given consumers the ease of surfing through a wide variety of songs, explore songs, join music communities as well as become a member and share custom playlists, etc, all with a few taps and on the move.
OTT Platforms provide a more personalized sense of music and has developed and the consumers are experiencing music more personally, more than they have ever before and from a media consumption point of view
Many additional features come with various other platforms, each one being different yet quite useful. Some platforms also come with the facility of streaming music videos, offline downloads, and many others.
OTT platforms also feature various ‘podcasts’ that offer a wide variety of content, ranging from entertainment and motivational messaging to meditation and politics, as a means to gather maximum engagement.
In commercial terms, OTT Platforms provide a market-friendly experience and thus are great for Campaigns. Also, the short advertisement spans, non-skippable advertisements, collaborations with other Platforms, or Social Media sites provide multifarious options to generate money.
OTT Platforms provide features to store data and insights of consumer impressions. This is information that helps to measure the type of content the audience is more inclined towards.
Audio OTT Platforms like JioSaavn, Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, Wynk, et cetera, contributed over 70% of the revenues of the domestic music industry in 2018-19. As per a report by Kantar and VTION, music streaming platforms have observed a 42% increase during the whole lockdown scenario.
However, fully subscription-based Platforms in the online streaming space have been able to gain much lower traction than partially subscription peers. Yet, despite this lower traction rate, the quality of the consumer base is considerably higher, in terms of overall platform satisfaction and engagement.
Therefore the main hurdles for the fully subscription-based platforms are, focusing to expand their customer base rapidly, while the partially subscription models working to fully establish & monetize a large user base.
All of this has bought a new era in the music industry with quality songs being promoted, individual artists getting big breaks, building common man music communities, and becoming a new source of lucrative advertisement altogether, the OTT Platforms have revolutionized the scene.
The OTT Platforms showcase a genre-free and all-inclusive approach to music-making with skilful individuals, bands, and artists as their music represents the culture in which we live.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of HelloPost.)
