As lifelong fans of classical music, we have noted that, for the precious art form to survive and thrive beyond our times, it is imperative that the art form provides the sufficient sustenance for the artists who are it’s living breathing embodiments. Artists should find a steady and substantial income stream from the pursuit of the art form. This way, they are able to spend more time honing and improving their skills. That will also lead to positive evolutions in the art form.

One way of earning a steady income is for artists to become gurus and impart their knowledge to the next generation. However, for an artist to be recognized as a guru, he/she will have to acquire credentials by first being recognized as a performer. Given the limited number of concert venues and organizers, it is becoming difficult for most promising artists to consistently find avenues to exhibit their skills. In addition, for established artists, the limited avenues prevent them from reaching out to all potential audience bases.

With the unfortunate advent of the world-wide pandemic, the traditionally progressive audience who were used to attending concerts in person, opened up to a whole new world of online content. This lead to a deluge of content of varying qualities flooding all the popular social media and video platforms. Most content was uncurated and all of them available for free. Since these platforms are not meant for classical music, we end up with unsearchable content with commercials at the most inappropriate times.

We as connoisseurs of music have, for the longest period of time, been both having our cake and eating it too. We have enjoyed amazing music from amazing artists for little to no monetary cost to us. This has been made possible by generous donations from patrons who have, in many cases, single handedly supported the artists and the art form. However, we would be remiss if we did not realize that, in a post pandemic world, expecting this status quo to continue is not going to be practical. Neither do we want us and the artists to be dependent on a few patrons for the longevity of the art form.

If we want our artists to keep producing content that will provide us with the exhilaration, satisfaction and the divine presence that we expect from them, we need to empower them with the value for their efforts.

Adding value to the artform has been one of the stated objectives that lead to the inception and development of the Eppo platform. Eppo is about empowering the artists and listeners. Artists will now have a technologically superior new platform to showcase their life’s work. Patrons will now have a platform dedicated and customized for hosting Indian classical music.