Aayushman Sinha (founder of OnStage Talents) is someone who started when he was just 15 years old. He was always interested in events, and at the age of 15, he began working as an event promoter where he sold concert tickets and provided access to nightclubs. He did this until he was 20 years old and built a very strong network for himself. At the age of 20 in his sophomore year of college, he launched his own digital marketing company, Hashtag Media Solutions, which focused primarily on youth marketing and digital brands. At the age of 21, he received the award for Best Social Media Professional in India for his work with Hashtag Media.
That
same year, he started managing DJ Chetas whom he knows from the start as event
promoters, and seeing the success of his work, he got more clients like Lost
Stories to join. Within months of managing artists, he realized what was his
true calling and left the hashtag, and focused on managing artists as a
full-time job source. The post that signed with Armaan Malik and the trio of
Chetas, Lost Stories and Armaan did wonders for him. At the age of 22, he
started On Stage Talents.
To
be honest, entrepreneurship comes with its own set of risks, challenges, and
anxieties. For him, it was more about persuading his family to go into their
own business rather than settling for a job (especially when you have great
deals on the table). “Another big challenge for me was voluntarily shutting
down a fully functional and growing company like Hashtag. I just won an award
for our work - I had clients who were very happy to serve them, but realizing
that was not my call and dropping all the money I was making and going on
setting up something completely different. It was a call I've always prayed
that I don't regret. You have to know when to draw the line as an entrepreneur
and that comes from within, there's no study that can help you figure that out,"
says Ayushmann.
“As
filmmakers, we put all our effort behind an artist and only think about them in
all situations. Admitting against the same thing I saw is trivial. Very few
artists understand the value of their equipment and continue to pressure and
appreciate them to achieve new goals. I am fortunate to work with some of the
best in this way.”
1. The primary focus was supposed to be artist management, but we’ve now got into production and we are developing our own digital IPs.
2. On Stage Talents has grown quite a bit since we started. We started with three artists and we’ve tripled already (with nine artists at present).
3. The pillar of artist management is credibility.
4. When it comes to the new talent we ideate a plan. We first see where we can take them, set deadlines, overall we keep it very professional.
5. We tell new talent that you put the ‘Y’ effort and we put the ‘X’ effort and we’ll get there.
6. That’s on the professional side but there is also a personal side to every artist.
7. For us, every artist is our family. If you speak to any artist they will never call us their manager but a best friend.
8. In the US there is a management agency, booking agency and there is a separate PR agency.
9. In India there is one person who follows all the roles and forgets about talent and brand building exercise.
10. We work on artist development. I think the vision matches and people are interested in coming onboard.
11. There is a huge demand for On Stage Talents in the market, but they have kept themselves limited to nine artists.
12. We get requests from a lot of people but we are very picky about whom we work with. We also want to do justice to everyone. And we don’t think we can service more artist at this point in time.
13. We’ve made a decent amount of money.
14. People not taking me seriously happens a lot. In fact, until two years ago, people just did not take anything that I said seriously.
15. I realised that I shouldn't tell my age. And I stopped bringing up my age.
16. People used to have conversations with me, assuming me to be a thirty-year-old. So, age is a problem.
17. The record label will be indie-focused as there is no big indie electronic label and we want to tap that space.
18. I was the first Indian to host a panel at Amsterdam Dance Event, the biggest music conference in the World.
19. I brokered exclusive partnerships with top Social Media Giants to amplify their content not just in India but also abroad.
20. A live act which I produced for KSHMR for Sunburn 2016 was rated the best Live Act by DJ MAG in the World. It featured Indian instrumentalists and dancers.
21. Lost Stories represented India at Tomorrowland, the biggest music festival in the world. This was the first time an Indian act made it to the biggest stage in the world.