Social Mob houses hundreds of tracks by new and independent artists from around the world
Aghin Johnson received a mail from an independent music artist from a Scandinavian
country. As he opened his email from his office located in Thammanam, Kochi. He was delighted to read out to his colleagues that another band has agreed to provide their music for Socialmob,
an app that streams music from international independent artists to thousands of users. A business management graduate, with an experience of 10 years, Aghin’s jump into building a music-based community Social mob was seen by his loved once with a bit of concern. His father, P M Johnson, asked him one question – Are you sure?
leave an MNC job” says Aghin who had waited for five years for the smartphone revolution to reach
the possibility of introducing his idea. Today, as we witness, the internet data availability is unlimited. A few years ago, smart phones were of less capacity and streaming speed was sluggish and costly. I have been always questioned about the viability of the concept and who will stream online. I always used to tell them to wait and in the 3-5 years the world has changed rapidly. The first prototype of the app was made in 2013 and it turned out to be a flop. Moreover the phones of those days with 600MB to 1GB RAM never had the capacity to run such a complex system. It was indeed too ahead of its time. “I am from the management background. I had the marketing strategies in place but I was not completely satisfied with the output of my product, Felt we could do better,” reckons the entrepreneur who had faced one of the biggest roadblocks. Nevertheless, it was pure determination and a never-say-never-attitude that helped him to find the ways during those tough times.
He had to feed the project. Soon, he moved from Bengaluru to Kochi in 2013 going against everyone
who insisted to stay in a city like Bengaluru where the start up environment was much friendlier. But
it was his arrogance to build something from the very place where it all began that took him to the
small town of Kunnamkulam where he decided to incorporate the company Padath Infotainment Pvt
Ltd making his dad as the director. “Unlike other start-ups I never had a founding team who shares the same vision. More friends I shared the idea for support, more sceptical they became and no one joined in. It was clear that I had to create a team to move forward and started building one by taking up a small office space in Kochi, the business center of Kerala,” he said. He recruited young graduates for the marketing team and brand-new technical team. Aghin floated another division by the name Pi Touch – that provided 360-degree brand and operational consulting for companies that wished to go digital. In addition it helped their client strategise and budget their branding efforts to span across Indian and international markets. Pi-Touch comprises of a talented team who have worked with renowned brands across the country on various campaigns. Pi Touch picked up quickly and its income soon became fodder for SocialMob. SimultaneouslyAghin began building the latest version of the app. He included latest articles and curated feeds that suited the user which helped user to meet with Like Minded Individuals around the world. The 2019 Edition which is due to launch in the coming month will see a whole new advanced analytical system.
Use of artificial intelligence in app was integral to build Socialmob. The app can decide how content
is delivered, based on the listening and reading behaviour of a user, it helped to connect with fellow mobbers.Aghin has toiled very hard to network and has sourced legally over 5,000 hours of music from 800 artists directly and another 2,000 artists, across 25 countries.The Beta version of the app was launched last September. The app has organically gained its first 10000 users just by word
of mouth and now it is going at a good pace to make it big. His team was also thrilled by the attention it generated. Creating the right team was the hardest part, says Aghin as he explained how for the
last five years his team was on their toes to develop the complete framework of Socialmob.
“Before the new year began, the team Pi took a two-day break to Vagamon – something that
has never happened in the last five years,” he exclaimed. Upgrading the team was another reason for the success of his venture. Aghin ensured that his team got the opportunity to attend most of the
tech and design conferences that happened in the country. “Attending events such as Google Mobile
Conferences and meeting technocrats in Amazon, Google, Akamai boosted the team’s technical knowhow and their soft skills as well. I just had to take them once, and it’s more or less a ritual.
Aghin also engineered a different work culture. When he interviewed candidates the only criteria
he looked was whether they were ready to share the same vision as him. “The team is like a family.
Everyone takes responsibility and accountability. After work, people clean up the premises. the office
ambiance and culture are set casually, Our office is our temple,” he explains.
FUTURE
Aghin plans to have an inhouse radio station.“Right now, through SocialMob the content is generated
in Kochi. Our English station is up and doing the trial streams, I am looking forward to the possibility of similar content generations across all the major cities around the world,” he dreams.
(Published in Corporate Champions' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India & New Delhi along with The Morning Standard, January 28, 2019
link: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/1999923/The-New-Indian-Express-Kochi/28012019#page/26/1
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