iWorld
Smule’s ‘India Jam Karega’ calls for unity
MUMBAI: Smule is inviting music-lovers across India to come together and jam online together. Whether it's singing a duet, crooning away with an international or local artist, creating an original, cheering each other on, making friends across the globe, sparking the creative energy of Indians and getting music lovers across languages and geographies together.
The new brand campaign, India Jam Karega, tells a musical story highlighting the tenets of the social singing app. Set to a groovy, foot-thumping anthem by the inimitable Sneha Khanwalkar, sung by Benny Dayal and Shalmali Kholgadhe, they are expressing the joy of jamming that people in India enjoy, the film weaves through various situations showing people from all corners of the country singing together. It has a friendly and inviting vibe, completely in sync with the essence of the brand- a community of music lovers uniting across the globe, including jamming with the biggest names in the music industry like Darshan Raval, Neha Kakkar, Salim Merchant, Papon & many others. Playing up the authenticity factor, the lyrics encourage people to sing with pride and without fear of any judgment. The film also brings out the features of the app where users can show appreciation for each other's singing by awarding virtual ‘gifts’.
Smule president Bill Bradford said: “Music has the inter-cultural ability to cross frontiers. It’s a language the world understands and that connects societies. We believe it's more crucial than ever to invoke the power of music to bring people closer, while encouraging, engaging and exciting anyone who likes to sing, anytime, anywhere. We aim to be the one stage where all of India unites to celebrate its passion for music. This campaign is an invitation for Indian music lovers to join our growing community of millions of music lovers – the rookie, the enthusiast and the expert.”
Times Bridge Sr. VP Investment Operations Viral Jani said: “At Times Bridge, it is our endeavor to work with our global partners to help them find a brand voice that will resonate with the discerning Indian consumer thereby become a part of the Indian cultural zeitgeist. The campaign “India Jam Karega” is an expression of how the Indian consumer connects over music and forms new connections that are driven by the passion of singing together from north to south, east to west of India and across the world. This campaign is a true reflection of how the Smule community of singers in India come together to Jam and unite on this platform.”
Smule is backed by Times Bridge, a leading investment firm that seeks to bring the world’s best ideas to India and India’s best ideas to the world.
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iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
