Why I am building Kala.Social
Hi, this is the first of three posts about my latest project. An aggregator for Indian traditional arts and events, and why I decided to build it. This one focuses on disorganization.
What is Kala.Social (.._WIP_)
Kala.Social is a platform that enables Indian artists to build their brand, grow their audience, and monetize their passion.
In this series, I write about my journey building Kala (short for kala.social). This post discusses a catalyst in the app's genesis; the disorganized nature of this space. Everything is disconnected. Artists from the audience and organizers, where you discover artists & events disconnected from where you can purchase tickets. It’s a terrible mess.
The next two posts will be about technology, and finding demand. Don’t miss it!
Initially, the idea started with a simple problem: figuring out when to organize our baithaks ( from बैठना - small concert) so it did not conflict with other significant events of the day. We’d lose big audiences while unintentionally conflicting with, e.g., Sir AR Rahman or Smt Kaushiki Chakraborty because of the information asymmetry.
Being in the know is a nontrivial challenge in itself. Events are spread across hundreds of mailing lists, sites like Eventbrite, Patch, Nextdoor, Meetup, Facebook and Instagram communities, and Whatsapp communities.
After 200+ conversations, I realized that many others have this exact problem. Artists have the biggest problem of all. Many want to post their performance calendars early, hoping to book multiple gigs, and make the most of their visit, but there’s no such place or network.
Organizing in the real world
Over the last 24 months, I’ve put together over 20 concerts doing everything from audio engineering to playing host and fundraising. Here’s my usual POV.
In addition, I’ve been fortunate to perform live to audiences [as a weekend musician] as part of shows and local community theatre, and I have learned from the artists there. Organizing online & virtual events seems so much easier now compared to putting “butts on seats” in real life. Still, every IRL event I’ve attended seems to draw newer & bigger audiences who want more, and the numbers don’t lie. Some things stand out to me:
Macro-economically, the huge upswing in community and IRL events isn’t cooling off. Despite record-high inflation, live events continue to draw big crowds [source] [source2].
Niche is in. High-art experiences are in. Traditional Indian arts have experienced a resurgence, especially thanks to social media, which has given them much-needed “airtime”.
Social media & device fatigue. AI slop.
Cultural and community events are funded through ticket sales in a good economy, and through donations and non-profits in a bad one. Our 501©(3), which organizes small concerts, paints a promising picture, without counting corporate matches and other monetization methods.
Analytics from Sangeethaamsha’s last 4 quarter donation volume on one platform.
Trigger
During my last visit to India, I was added last minute to a Zoom call with some Indian media execs. Learning about my background & non-profit work, they were curious about classical and Indian musicians and events in the US. Especially the San Francisco Bay Area, which has a sizeable minority of the South Asian population and my home for the last decade. I narrated my experiences organizing concerts in the US, and they spoke of their travails back home. Whilst brainstorming what might work, this celebrity singer & entrepreneur said these exact words.
“Tech and American Indians have not done much for the sector. “
It took me by surprise. I did not think of this as a sector to begin with. There’s no one source of truth, no recognizable brand names, no hierarchies, communities, and very little support (systemic or otherwise) to help well-intentioned organizers & artists meet in the middle. Then there’s all the other stuff that is required to host live events:
A venue
Guestlist
Audio equipment
Marketing, Ticketing
Hosting & Fundraising
It’s no wonder these artists have found their last resort on Instagram and Facebook, where access to their own subscribers is blocked by paid “boosts.” It’s truly a sad state of affairs, digitally and in person.
There’s also the petty infighting, gossip mills, and “cancel” culture
Soft launch …
To begin comprehending the problem space, and help creators along the way, I’ve launched an events site for Indian traditional arts events. I started by aggregating existing listings and building a tool for quick uploads of events you might find (Wait for my next post). I’m looking for volunteers who’d love to contribute to listings & their quality on the site. Hopefully with some careful tending, this becomes the launch of something much bigger. Something that helps creators and practitioners of Indian traditional arts like music, dance, theatre, poetry, comedy, and much more.
Surprising discovery: From my basic aggregation, I see over a dozen events scheduled locally in the next three weeks, and really, there’s no place to find it all outside of Kala right now. And we’re still only at classical music.
Here's a screenshot of the main events page filtered for the San Francisco Bay Area. Did you know you have so many options for live entertainment this weekend and next?
Stay tuned for updates!!
Read Part 2: How I leveraged AI tech to build Kala.Social