Leading social media platform Snapchat is planning several new projects targeting Indians. Snapchat, which has been able to make significant inroads in Europe and the US, does not have a significant user base in India. As part of the new initiative, Snapchat has launched the Sounds Creator Fund to support emerging, independent artists in India.
Snapchat’s Sounds Creator Fund will work in partnership with independent music distribution platform DistroKid. As part of this, 50,000 dollars (about 40 lakh rupees) has been announced for the veterans. Starting this month, 20 artists who upload the best music content on Snapchat’s own SoundSnap will get $2,500 (roughly Rs. 2 lakh) each. Snapchat’s move is to attract local content creators in the country.
Sounds is a feature that allows users to include licensed music in their Snaps and their own creations. Since the launch of the Sounds feature, over 270 million videos have been created on Snapchat. And these videos achieved 18,300 crore views globally, according to the company.
Earlier this year, Snapchat’s paid subscription service, Snapchat+, was launched in India at Rs 49 per month. Meanwhile, Snap has also appointed former Meta India head Ajit Mohan as president of its APAC business. India is an important market for all leading social media and networking companies due to low cost internet access and high number of smartphone users. Snapchat is also competing with the likes of Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and homegrown startups like ShareChat, Chinkari, and Moj.