The news of local telecom service provider initiating the launch of Yonder Music – which boasts about 20 million songs across the globe – made headlines on the same day as a local company’s promising release of their streamer service.
This is international versus local in the realm of Maldivian music, and the question blaring horns in my mind was; if we are trying to boost exposure of local talents to the world, why are we choosing an international platform rather than taking a local platform across international waters?
While it is commendable that Dhiraagu has become the major player in bringing valuable, useful and popular products and applications into the Maldivian community – they are the official cloud service provider of Microsoft Office 365 – the nature of music and the profound importance of taking it abroad is complex and seemingly a multi-dimensional topic of discussion.
Best would be to breakdown the entire subject into comprehensive plots of discussion to deliver the real or the harrowing nature of using an international platform rather than boosting a local platform into international market.
First of all – technology knows no boundary, country or origin – meaning that useful applications and technological advancements of any manner is not a clandestine creation of any one nation, rather it is an open world of several creative minds from various countries, pooling their resources towards one similar motive; to make the world “cooler” is what I would use.
So, while companies like Netflix and Amazon have made their intricate digital web grandeur and larger – spreading its wings across the globe, and even in Maldives – it is still a dream to come true for a Maldivian-incepted application to become recognized internationally.
The news of a genuine Maldivian music streaming service, by Maldivians for Maldivians made headlines as well – this is a great push towards the development and exposure of music. Not only is this going to serve as a platform through which locals can upload their talent, but also it can serve as the perfect medium to showcase the talents internationally and there’s a win-win in a bigger magnitude than featuring local songs on a foreign platform.
Lavafoshi – a 100% genuine product from Maldives, a streamer that houses a bigger library of local songs compared to the number of songs featuring in its foreign counterpart – despite the latter’s music content is bigger; given it accommodates several artists from various parts of the globe. While Lavafoshi has an archive of 10,000+ local songs, the number is a meager 500 in its foreign competitor.
The idea is to encourage or provide the technical foreground for local applications to host themselves abroad – which can be achieved through local telecom providers teaming up with international brands. This sounds similar to Yonder Music’s approach, however this time, the direction is reversed.
Two products from Maldives, a streamer and local music is getting the opportunity to get its foothold in international market. Something many would describe as a risky move, since Maldivian applications have yet to be recognized globally – but this could have been that stepping stone.
Next thing that would come to our mind is how do we achieve this? How do we take a local application and boost its popularity across the globe? That’s a complete marketing aspect – which can be effectively explored. As mentioned earlier, a foreign corporation, with reputable reach can prove to be the perfect endorsement such products require.
But the entire subject at hand, and in question has now become comprehensible and sensible. The magnitude and its subsequent benefit in the long run would be more favorable through such an approach where two products – which are closely knit and go hand in hand – will be getting its mainstream exposure and popularity internationally.
So, to put it into perspective; food for thought?
