VOA常速英语:手机应用架设音乐人与粉丝的桥梁

They may be only young teenagers, but these sisters also known as the PinkFurs,can be seen and heard around the world with the help of a mobile application called Flipagram.

“When we started using it as a band (like) it was way better.Because like, we started getting more fans, and like more action on our videos.”

“It’s really hard to get blow up on YouTube and Facebook and Instagram because they’re all big apps,but like Flipagram is gradually getting there, so it was cool because we started it like right when the app was blowing up.”

The Flipagram app allows users to mix their own photos and videos with up to one minute of music for free.It’s the music selection that makes Flipagram unique, says the company’s head, Farhad Mohit.

“Our biggest differentiating factor is that we have over 50 million songs licensed from all the music labels,so when you want to mix music with your photos and videos, you have an incredible selection.”

Mohit is an Iranian-American, negotiated deals with all the big record labels by pitching the idea that social media is a great way to promote the music of big-name musicians as well as artists new to the industry.

“The group of influencers who dive into this head-first fastest were the emerging music artists, because they were like, ’We already have some fans but we want more fans’.And by creating Flipagrams of their own, you know, and also encouraging their fans to create Flipagrams,they just created word-of-mouth kind of promotion for their music.”

Users can purchase the entire music track to create longer content.Or if they are watching a video and like the music, they can just click and buy.

Launched three years ago, Flipagram now has users in 150 countries,and the app has been translated into 37 different languages.

Mohit, who has found success in many other startups,attributes much of his drive and accomplishments to his immigrant background.

“I think the group of Iranians who have emigrated, or immigrants in general,come to a new culture, they have to be OK with the unknown—they have to make for themselves. There’s a little bit of an urgency, in that you know, you don’t have a legacy here.”

In turn, Flipagram is also helping artisits become more successful within the music business.

“I want to be a rock star, and I want to be like a legend to prove all to those people when they playing staff.”

While making it in the music business is tough, Mohit is up to mistake.Fans like the PinkFurs and other Flipagran content creators will be in high demand.Because it’s not just musicians who are looking to promote their music,brands of all kinds are looking to advertise their products through video content and mobile devices.

Elizabeth Lee, VOA news, Los Angeles.