Gone are those days when you sat on the ground with folded legs with eyes affixed on your guru, while they tuned the tanpura to sing the octave, only for you to repeat after them. Ashish Joshi recalls how a good chunk of the time was spent catching up with his guru, sharing cups of chai and snacks as a prelude. But then, COVID struck in 2020 and his music classes were suddenly online. In a way, it was convenient for both Ashish and his guru.

"The teacher otherwise travelled for two and a half hours every day, before reaching my place," he says. And that was when he thought — Why not open an online academy for students to learn from teachers live, attending one-on-one sessions. So, in September 2021, he set up Artium Academy, an online music school, roping in a few big names of the Indian music industry, including Sonu Nigam, KS Chithra, Aruna Sairam and Ananth Vaidyanathan. Ashish says that Artium has over 1,000 subscribers till now.

The process to enrol is quite simple. The students can book a trial and if they like it, they get to enrol for a course of their liking (they have courses in Hindustani and Carnatic classical music and film songs now) and schedule a class. "We are also providing them a platform to attend masterclasses with music maestros, perform in front of them and even release their singles," he said. Ashish says that anyone older than 6 years can enrol for their courses, which generally have a duration of 18 to 24 months. The courses are now priced between Rs 70 and 1,000 per hour.

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While Sonu Nigam is the Patron-in-Chief of the academy, Aruna Sairam is the Faculty Head of Carnatic Classical Music, KS Chithra heads the course on South Indian Popular Film Music and Ananth Vaidyanathan heads Voice Training.