Baiskoafu — streaming your local favourites

Streaming from a cosy, spacious office and studio on the fifth floor of H.Coal Field, all Maldivians and their friends overseas can now have access to a premium, almost one of a kind collection of Maldivian music, theatre, and culture at their fingertips. This, is Baiskoafu.

Streaming services are all the rage these days; a growing trend for nearly a decade now. With the advent of YouTube, the idea of not having to download entire files in order to enjoy content has been very quickly recognised by audiences, and capitalised on by companies. Right up there, on the same platform as Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer, the Maldives can now proudly boast one of their own, home-grown, streaming services, Baiskoafu.

Baiskoafu is the brainchild of prolific Maldivian entertainment entrepreneur, Mohamed Mirusan (Miru) who came upon the idea of making a Netflix/Spotify like hybrid for the neighbourhood. Getting together with a group of friends from various backgrounds, such as designers, producers, musicians, and techies, he pitched the idea of creating a streaming platform solely with the view of carrying content audiences loved to watch, on cable and television, to be available on demand at their fingertips.

Undoubtedly, the idea for Baiskoafu was ingenious but making it a reality posed a challenge, financially and otherwise. Baiskoafu would have remained only a mere idea if it was not for Miru’s undying passion for entertainment content and the unvarying support from Miru’s father, family and friends who stood by him through thick and thin. 

Founded in 2017 and officially launched on 12 November, 2018, the core team of this venture has mainly stayed the same, barring one or two changes. The philosophy that was embedded into Miru’s mind by his father, of doing this work out of passion and love, is a concept that the whole Baiskoafu family firmly holds to. The company’s office space is one key example of nurturing passion; it is extremely employee friendly with comforts akin to, and at times even exceeding, working from home. 

Since local content streaming was an alien concept to the industry, the idea was initially not very warmly welcomed by most local content producers. 

However, wildly successful and determined film directors such as Fathmath Nahula have now stepped up. Nahula especially brims with excitement over developing her own web series, an idea touted by many from the sidelines to fail, but with over a 100 episodes already “aired,” it is one of the most successful Maldivian productions to date. 

The initial stages of the Baiskoafu venture was a roller-coaster ride with hard lessons learnt along the way — that being dependent on other parties can be a major disadvantage. Yet the company, overcoming these challenges, emerged even stronger with their own production house which continues to fashion creative, quality, content.

Baiskoafu decided to go beyond what other international platforms were offering and proudly offers both video and audio content streaming as well as Live-TV streaming on its platform. Additionally, its vast database of Maldivian artists and their biographies is an exceptional value-add feature. Baiskoafu aims to improve its user experience and services by adding additional features such as e-books — possibly a great help in education and also preserving national culture. This also eliminates costly barriers of entry, such as printing and publication charges, for aspiring, and even established, writers.

Being homegrown, Baiskoafu caters to Maldivian tastes and creates a space for Maldivian creatives to come together, and demonstrate their Maldivian talent. Baiskoafu makes it a priority to ensure that artists and content creators know the value of the work they are presenting, and to also let audiences have a chance to get to know more about the people they are following by providing comprehensive biographies of most of their contributors that is easily accessible on the application.

The extent of artist appreciation is prevalent the moment one launches Baiskoafu. Content spans generations, all the way from the beginning of broadcasting in the Maldives, down to the newest musicians and freshest faces on the acting scene. Proper compensation for these contributions is a cornerstone of the Baiskoafu philosophy, and they work to ensure considerate and generous terms for these collaborations. They have kept this up even during the pandemic, highlighting their ideological commitment. Add to this, the more viewers, the more content that can be supported on the platform, completing the circle of income flow between the artists and their fans. Already, Baiskoafu pays upfront 50-70% of the potential streaming revenue generated for content to the content developers, a standard practically unheard of.

To get to this position was an uphill battle. Not only did Baiskoafu have to compete with local streaming and production studios, but also with international giants in the industry. Yet, with a loyal user base and high quality content, they kept their head in the game and persevered. Now, with highly successful shows such as Huvaa, Ehenas, Gamini, and the wildly successful Maldivian sitcom Karuhakuru, by Orkeyz Inc., Baiskoafu is taking strong strides forward.

This does not mean challenges are nought. Wider support in the entertainment industry needs to be secured in order to increase viability and keep moving forward. Content piracy has always been an issue in a nation without any comprehensive copyright laws — Baiskoafu spends a fortune annually on security features that are similar to major international streaming platforms, and they intend to strengthen their existing security features with newer technologies and services to ensure content are safe from piracy. 

Another very important point of note is how Baiskoafu had stayed true to their pledge of championing originality; allowing only original content and no more of the cover music to be streamed on their application. Beyond that, Baiskoafu proudly claims they have offered work to almost 90% of the creative industry in the Maldives, whether to create original music or web series, and they ensure their studio and other services are available for the creators to utilise as well. 

Baiskoafu believes their immediate next goal is to take Maldives to the world stage, that people around the world deserve a chance to both discover and support entirely Maldivian content — with their incorporation of Google Play  as well as Apple in-App payments for subscription, they are ready to make headway. 

Every change, every new aspect, and each individual feature on the platform has been through rigorous trial and error. One major advantage the Baiskoafu family has, is how they can figure out what they believe is missing on the international platforms to make it more localised, and try it out, which is what led to their most original application and interface. Their work is not done yet; currently they are working on a significant User-Interface enhancements for Mobile Applications, including new features such as nationwide music and video charts, and substantial improvements to their subscription options. The Baiskoafu family is looking to expand their work too, with the blueprints of a Baiskoafu Records professional recording studio coming soon. 

Despite the challenges, and despite the setbacks over the years, Baiskoafu pushes forward. When asked, Miru proudly points out that it is Abdulla Hafiz (Happe) who is the embodiment of the application. He heads all the operations, along with Irshan as Chief Technical Office. They in turn always appreciate that it is the unwavering family, and the whole team, at Baiskoafu that make them what they are.

Rather than profit off content exposure, they choose to elevate collaborators and contributors together with the company, to ensure the most genuine content is available on their platform. 

Maldivian culture has been fading slowly for a while, and Baiskoafu, with their variety of content and intention to explore push the envelops, might be the torch that rekindles this waning.