Gone are the days of downloading music off sketchy sites (and fighting pesky pop-ups, which ultimately bog your system with viruses)! Undeniably so, there definitely was a great amount of thrill to it. Whether it was feeding songs into that shiny new MP3 player that you had only just acquired, or creating neat folders of your favourite artists on your desktop, the nineties were delightful. Maybe that is why a Gaana or Saavn's entry into our life took time to change the way we listened to music. Although initially not welcomed with the enthusiasm they deserved, today streaming platforms have taken the country by storm.
Albeit late, Spotify's entry into the market had Indian consumers taking the much-required leap into streaming apps. Today, amidst several international apps, Indian start-ups have begun to find their place in the music-streaming pool.
Simplifying music-streaming
With over eight million downloads and a whopping three million songs in its music library, Flutin is titled as 'India's new music discovery app'. The app was launched to promote emerging artists whilst offering music listeners an endless pool of popular as well as lesser-known songs to stream. "In 2015, we developed and launched Flutin App (earlier PindropMusic App), with the objective to revolutionise the music streaming process and to enhance the listener experience," Vishu Gupta, the CEO & Founding Partner of Flutin, was quoted saying to The Bridge Chronicle.
Talking about the concept of Flutin, he also stated how the primary idea of the app was to provide the listeners with customised, relevant playlists and suggestions -- which could be sorted according to their mood. "Besides that, our major focus has been on promoting emerging artists' songs among the listeners who fancy the kind of music produced by these artists," he added.
Revolutionalising streaming
Signing up for Flutin will take up ten minutes of your time, not because it is complicated -- but because you will need to pick your favourite artists before you set up your profile. A simple Google or Facebook login is enough to signup, however, on logging in and setting your password, the app will seek permission to access your Facebook to gauge your music taste. And while we're all for customised content, this may make you a little queasy!
You will be redirected to a page with the names and pictures of the artists you may be interested in, and this will help the app to come up with song selections according to your likes. We could find some of our familiar names in the list, but the list definitely wasn't complete.
Flutin's homepage, although comprehensive, looks a little cluttered (unlike its competitors). Like Spotify, you will be greeted with a curated playlist on the top of your page. Below that, you will find icons marked with 'moods', including the work, relax, love, sleep... amongst others.
Towards the bottom of your home page, there is a section dedicated to 'Recommended Playlists' -- however, we could do with some more options in that area, considering how competitors can whip up stellar recommendations for us in no time.
The verdict
Perhaps the best feature about Indian startups is that it gives emerging artists and influencers a chance to showcase their talent without putting in a lot of efforts. And Flutin does, too! Setting it (strangely) apart from other apps, Flutin allows its users to collect points which can be later redeemed to buy goodies off its online store. And while that does keep us intrigued, the concept refuses to stand out because of the lack of purchase-worthy items on its e-store.
However, we were not too thrilled about how the app picks songs for you according to your 'mood'. With a haphazardly created playlist and almost no original version of the songs, it almost reminds you of YouTube when you can't find the right video for yourself. The app almost gets too confusing at some point. In fact, the purpose diminishes after you take that long to find the song you're seeking. Flutin does have the kind of potential it takes to turn 'India's largest music discovery app' into reality, but we may have to wait a little longer for it to get there. Meanwhile, if you're looking for a platform to get creative (or give your singing career a shot), Flutin may just be the right place for you to begin!
iOS rating: 4.5/5
Android rating: 4.2/5
TBC rating: 2.5/5
