Baahi.xomoy.com streams songs in Assamese, Bodo, Mising and more-OxBig News Network

Mrinmoy Kumar, the founder of Baahi (Baahi.xomoy.com), the first Assamese music streaming platform, says the idea of the app came from a longing to listen to Assamese songs while away from home.

As a student from Tezpur in Assam, Mrinmoy was pursuing his BTech in Odisha. Some new, some old searches on various streaming platforms did not meet his need. He felt the need for a platform for those who love listening to Assamese music. While he was in Odisha as a student, Mrinmoy did his research and realised that some platforms include popular albums of selected popular artistes. His focus was on building a platform dedicated to Assamese songs, including Assamese folk.

Once he returned to his hometown, Tezpur, Mrinmoy started to work on his idea aggressively. He recalls, “I discussed my idea with some childhood friends. They jumped in immediately, because my thoughts resonated with theirs. Now Krishanu Kashyap and I run it.”

Baahi, a unit of Xomoy Innovatives Pvt Ltd  was founded to try and plug the following deficits — no dedicated regional content streaming platform, an unavailability of digital content in various Indian languages, and the untapped market for diverse North Eastern music and culture. Baahi currently has Assamese, Bodo, Mising, Karbi, Tiwa, Koch and Rajbonshi music. They are working to include song from states of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram.

Krishanu Kashyap
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

From Borgeet to Rock and from Classics to modern Pop, the platform has something for everyone. The founders say their user-friendly interface and personalised recommendations make it easy for a listener to discover new music and connect with local musicians. Currently they have over 4,00,000 users of the app. “This apart we have over 2,00,000 unique website visitors every month,” added Mrinmoy.

Apart from streaming regional music, the app also caters to original individual music. “We wanted to be a platform that allowed individual artistes to introduce their music. Several independent artistes go unnoticed for lack of a platform,” says Mrinmoy. 

The platform was just a thought until the end of 2020. 

Mrinmoy began working on the app with help from coding videos on YouTube. “Computer Science was my background in BTech, so it was easy for me to understand. We started approaching record labels to access database of classics from artistes such as Bhupen Hazarika. Most of the old songs are with record labels such as Saregama/HMV. We procure those songs/albums on rental rights. We also noticed that certain songs, especially from classic Assamese movies, were not digitised. We also worked on digitisation of songs. So, while we were developing the app, gathering a database of songs, we were also learning about the industry,” Mrinmoy explains. They function with a 12-member team.

Mrinmoy Kumar
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The platform lists over 30,000 songs from more 10,000 artist in the above said languages. Some of the most heard and popular artists are Zubeen Garg, Papon, Deeplina Deka, Prabin Borah, Bhupen Hazarika, Dwipen Baruah, Khagen Mahanta, Asha Bhosle, Sonu Nigam (Assamese songs) etc.

Right now the app is freemium model, where users can use the app without paying with ads and limited features. “But can purchase subscriptions for additional features and ad free experience,” added Mrinmoy.

What next? The team also plans on launching of video/audio based podcasts. Their goal is to increase Baahi Original content, host second edition of Baahi Music Fest. “We are soon going to begin work to introduce movies of NE on rent,” added Mrinmoy.