Method Melody: Bangladesh’s first e-platform for music education
At present, the digital platform is offering 174 lessons conducted by eight renowned artists, including Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal of Warfaze and Artcell’s George Lincoln D’Costa
Online learning has been empowering millions around the world in the era of digitisation. In Bangladesh, e-learning gained momentum amid the Covid-19 pandemic as many educational institutions shifted academic activities online.
This made room for existing and new e-learning platforms to cater to an untapped market.
Other than providing basic academic services, many e-learning platforms offer courses that help develop technical and cognitive skills. Nevertheless, how many platforms do we see providing courses that aid in enhancing our creative skills?
Curiosity and indulgence often help develop creative skills; be it artistic, analytical, problem-solving, visual arts, communicative, or even writing - creativity flourishes in every aspect of our lives.
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Our passion and commitment can lead us to great ideas. Arko Newaz Mahmood's passion for music led him to ideate Method Melody amid the pandemic.
"Bangladesh's education system is changing. We can now easily pursue our academic desires online. In terms of market acceptance for e-learning platforms, it is developing gradually and I am sure it will pick up pace in the days to come," said Arko, the co-founder and CEO of Method Melody, during an interview with The Business Standard.
With this belief, Arko and his partner, Jannatul Ferdous Tany, founded Method Melody - Bangladesh's first online streaming platform dedicated to offering music education in August last year.
Method Melody is a digital platform where artists offer lessons on musical instruments and users can choose to learn how to play any desired instrument from their preferred musician. So, if you are hoping to learn guitar, drums, piano and more, why not learn from the best?
At present the digital platform is offering 174 lessons conducted by eight renowned artists - Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal of Warfaze, Artcell's George Lincoln D'Costa, Avoid Rafa's Raef al Hasan Rafa and Foysal Ahammed Tanim, Aurthohin's Shishir Ahmed and Mahaan Fahim, Samir Hafiz from Warfaze and Shrapnel Method, and Arbovirus's Nafeez Al Amin.
Their lessons are split into five course-categories: guitar, bass guitar, drums, piano and keyboard, and sound engineering. Each instructor offers beginner, intermediate and advanced level courses, and students can start at any level they prefer.
Artists and the Method Melody team draft lesson plans for each course. The lessons are then recorded at the platform's studio and uploaded to its website.
In order to ensure a smooth learning process, this platform offers study materials and consultancy services for learners. Upon completing each course, students are provided with certificates from Method Melody.
Each course is designed for a period of 30 days. However, subscribers are given access to every subscribed course for 90 days in order to complete it.
Within this time span, learners can communicate with instructors through the platform whenever needed.
As of now, Method Melody is offering 11 courses on its platform and the minimum subscription cost for a course falls at Tk2,499.
"The subscription fee varies from course to course; a cajón course might cost less than a drums course and the intermediate or advanced level courses might cost a bit higher than beginner-level courses," explained Arko.
Method Melody's initiative is a one-off in Bangladesh's market, however, there remains a concern about whether music enthusiasts are ready to adapt to such a business model.
According to Jannatul, there is a lack of music education in Bangladesh. She said, "No matter how much we love music, it always comes second after our basic education. Music comes from passion and enthusiasts eager to learn to play an instrument must ensure their music lesson time does not interfere with their traditional education classes."
Arko added, "I think it is essential for us to allow young minds to pursue music education alongside conventional studies. Our platform allows students to learn music at their preferred time without having to incur a clash with their academic or work schedule."
With the current subscribers and feedback, Method Melody is satisfied and certain that its demand will increase in the future.
This platform has already onboarded eight acclaimed artists and is currently in talks with six more. Method Melody plans on expanding its course library and include varieties of instruments, artists and features in the future.
"So far, we have gotten amazing responses from artists. They are different from how we see them on camera. I have found them to be very down-to-earth and it is fun to work with them," said Jannatul.
Even though Method Melody is getting a good response from artists, onboarding them has been one of the major challenges for this platform.
Arko believes that artists in Bangladesh are often neglected. He said, "Due to many recurring incidents, artists seemed to have developed trust issues towards any company that approaches them. However, day by day, we are trying to change this scenario and develop a trustworthy relationship with them."
"We are also working on shaping the music industry's infrastructure for the future generations and that shall be a surprise," concluded Arko.
To know more about Method Melody, visit: https://www.methodmelody.com
