One of the bigger mysteries of being a musician in 2023 is streaming. There are few things that will get you the kind of recognition and reach that a good streaming strategy and plays on Spotify would get you. Other than the TikTok to Spotify pipeline that drives the popularity of songs and makes them go viral, the whole algorithm is a black box. With tiny revenues per stream and the impossible effort of getting oneself out there, it is natural to question if it is even worth being on Spotify.
Perhaps, hearing the latest album ‘In Memories’ by Augan and his story will prove that it is probably worth the effort. Augan, an electronic music producer and DJ based in New Delhi (India), combines different genres to create a distinctive and personal sound that he translates into lush electronic music. His music features influences and a blend of electronic and indie, held together by the glue of creativity.
Inspired heavily by the sound of artists like Tourist and Parra for Cuva, Augan comes close to reproducing it but with his originality mixed into it. One of the milestones for him, with this album, came with his signing on to the French label Electro Pose’s imprint Beyond. Another milestone came with the single “Affection” receiving well over 4 million streams from its Spotify release and his monthly listeners approaching more than 500000.
Synth leads complementing lush pads and punchy kicks are standard throughout the albums. The bass weaves the story into a completely immersive experience and occasional vocal samples further help build an atmosphere of euphoria. Augan’s creativity shines through in his melodic treatment of the album and his ability to balance it with storytelling.
Many producers, though they loathe to admit it, crave that kind of recognition on Spotify. We asked Augan a few questions to understand what led him to this moment.
The answers below have been edited for readability
1. How would you describe the process and setup for creating your album?
Mostly I tend to work on about 3-4 pieces of music at once as I like to observe the relationship that develops between them. Also, I rarely have something already in mind before starting the track. I discover what I like by messing around, so it’s never the same approach. Sometimes I start a track with melodies and harmonies or sometimes by sampling anything or maybe drums, but the use of atmosphere is constant in every track I record in my day-to-day life. I love to use them even if we can hardly hear them on the track.
As for setup I like to keep it simple, just my Mac and Audio Technica m50x headphones. I also use a lot of third-party plugins but as far as the setup goes, that’s more than enough for me.
2. Spotify streaming remains a mystery to many artists. What advice do you have for cracking it?
To be honest, the response to my debut album was really surprising for me as well. There’s no fixed formula for this but I guess certain things help you. Releasing consistently or having a good team(label) with you who matches your vision greatly helped me. My album got signed to the French label Electro Pose imprint Beyond and there has been a lot of support from them too.
I’ll just say make the kind of music you wanna make irrespective of the trend going on and there’ll always be an audience for you. Just be consistent, release regularly (obviously without taking a toll on yourself), and enjoy the process.
3. What are your plans for future releases?
A lot is coming in the future, my next single “ Colaba “ releasing on 11th April, then one more lineup after that!
Also, I recently started working on another album, which hopefully you’ll hear about soon. I will also start doing gigs and take these sounds on tour and hopefully introduce these tunes to some lovely people.
4. How has your sound evolved over the course of creating an album and releasing it to the public?
It changes a lot for sure, especially when you’re not any genre specific. I still don’t know what genre my tracks are in. It all depends on the listener, if they’re feeling the tracks in any way that’s good enough for me as I try to focus on that more than the technical stuff.
And mostly I let the project sit around for some days after almost finishing it and then visit back to it then a lot more is an instinctual process and depends on what I am thinking at that point in time or in which way I wanna take the sound but also I try not to overthinking things as much(still trying).
Feedback from your producer friends also helps a lot, so don’t hesitate to ask for feedback or help from any of your producer friends. We have a lot of talent in our country and you’ll be surprised to see how genuine and easily reachable these artists are irrespective of the stage they’re in.
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Quick on the heels of his success with the album, Augan recently released his single ‘Colaba’ on the same label. With his Spotify success and his incredibly lush music, we can’t wait to see what his future holds!
