Saregama, a RP Sanjiv Goenka Group company, launches – Padhanisa, an AI based music learning app that aims to make Indian vocal learning simple, easy and accessible to everyone across the globe. Saregama, India’s oldest music label has expanded its horizon with Padhanisa, from delivering super-hit music for over a century to creating a platform that simplifies music learning.
Padhanisa aims to be a personal singing teacher for those who enjoy singing but have never considered learning due to lack of access to the right resources or fear of judgement.
The personalized approach of the app ensures that every individual receives tailored recommendations based on their vocal range, suggestions on warmups and workouts focussed on the key improvement areas. A comprehensive assessment of the performance is shared after every level so that learners can keep improving.
Sharing his views on Padhanisa, Vikram Mehra, Managing Director – Saregama India Limited, “Padhanisa is an obvious extension from Saregama. The insight of the app comes from the fact that all Indians’ love to sing, be it any occasion or just to feel happy. We truly believe that there are no bad singers, but just untrained ones. So, here we are with an AI based app which trains you to sing in Sur. All you got to do is download the Padhanisa App and start your personalised music learning journey.”
Saregama, an RP Sanjiv Goenka Group company and the music company that was for many generations known as HMV, has announced the launch of ‘Saregama Talent,’ a vertical exclusively designed for emerging artists. Following this exciting move, the company unveiled its first three next-gen performers – Maahi, Arjun, and Pragati.
Welcoming the new performers Vikram Mehra, MD, Saregema India Ltd. said: “The launch of Saregama Talent marks a strategic move to enhance our non-film content offering, a crucial step toward delivering diverse and comprehensive entertainment experiences to our audience. Maahi, Pragati, and Arjun bring a remarkable blend of talent and passion for music. We plan to extensively collaborate with them on a range of audio and video projects. Beyond Hindi, Saregama Talent will soon extend its reach to artists in other languages. We are confident that, with Saregama, this trio will not only make waves in the music industry but also etch their names in the hearts of music lovers worldwide.”
Whoever said there’s no future for magazines in India?! Industrialist Sanjeev Goenka’s RPSG Lifestyle Media has inked an agreement with Hearst Magazines International to launch Esquire India under a multi- year licensing agreement.
Esquire currently has 18 editions worldwide, and the Indian edition will be its 19th. The announcement was made by Jonathan Wright, Hearst Magazines International President, and Avarna Jain, Chairperson of RPSG Lifestyle Media. RPSG Lifestyle Media already publishes Hello magazine, and a slew of other titles are also on the anvil.
“We are excited to partner with RPSG Lifestyle Media to further expand Esquire’s global footprint. I am confident that this iconic brand, which is celebrating 90 years of high-quality journalism and a distinct point of view, will be an invaluable source of information for millions of men in India who are interested in fashion, style and culture,” said Wright in a statement.
Avarna Jain
Added Jain, who is Goenka’s daughter, and is also Vice-Chairperson of music label Saregama (eka HMV): “Hearst Magazines is known for its carefully nurtured lifestyle titles that have gained iconic status around the world and we are delighted that they have chosen RPSG Lifestyle Media as partners in India for the launch of Esquire. We intend to take a 360-degree approach to maximise the potential of this legacy media title: we will lead with a high-quality print magazine and augment the offering with multi-platform digital and on-ground content that will reach wider audiences today. We hope that Esquire India will add nuance to the already discerning Indian men of taste.”
Jamal Shaikh
The magazine is likely to be headquartered in New Delhi, and is said to be hiring key staff for its editorial, sales and other business functions. Earlier this year, RPSG Lifestyle Media appointed senior journalist Jamal Shaikh as Chief Operating Officer.
So when’s the magazine scheduled for launch? Most like April 2024 or thereabouts.
PS: Will the RPSG-owned Lucknow Super Giants players sport Esquire on their sleeves in IPL 2024?
Saregama (eka HMV) has acquired a majority stake in digital entertainment company Pocket Aces Pictures Private Limited. This acquisition, notes a communique, will further strengthen Saregama’s strategic ambition to take leadership position in new music across all Indian languages.
Said Avarna Jain, Vice Chairperson Saregama: “This acquisition signifies the confluence of tradition and innovation. While we have always been leaders in the realm of music and media, this partnership with Pocket Aces will add new dimensions to our business as we tap into the burgeoning young digital audiences.”
On his first day as CEO of MTV India, he walked in with colour on his finger nails. Each one different, and bright. A former friend once told this writer that he wanted to buy the man some printed socks from Kuala Lumpur, given the man’s love for all things stylish. At the press conference for an entertainment channel – yes, a real one – that didn’t quite take off, he stood up the podium with the hair on the back of his painted red.
And now Sunil Lulla is all set to add colour and style to Astrum, a PR and advocacy firm based in New Delhi NCR. Better known as its founder and Managing Partner Ashwani Singla’s agency, Astrum fashions itself as “India’s first science-based specialist Reputation Management advisory”. We don’t know that what means, but Astrum sure has had a fair good set of clients over the years.
Ashwani Singla
Lulla, a communique said, will play a vital role in strengthening Astrum’s capability as a trusted advisor to the C Suite and adding fuel to its growth engine. Said Singla: “For over two decades that I have known and worked with Sunil, I have admired how he combines strategic clarity with execution excellence to achieve extraordinary outcomes. Our clients and colleagues will benefit from his sage counsel and proven acumen.”
“The impact of reputation, risk and regulation on business is a major pre-occupation of the C Suite and more so today; I am delighted to be a part of a team that has an enviable track record of helping CXOs successfully negotiate this landscape,” added Lulla.
Lulla should know, having spent a lifetime in the media ecosystem. Eons at Wunderman Thompson’s earlier avatar of JWT, MTV (where he effected a turnaround), Sony Entertainment Television (not yet Sony-Zee), Times Network (yes, with Arnab Goswami), Indya.com (remember the Sunday Times of India roadblock?) for Pradeep Kar’s Microland, HMV (now SaReGaMa), Grey, Balaji Telefilms (yes, with Ekta Kapoor) and television audience measurement body BARC India, where he was tasked by the Board to undertake some cleansing operations.
The role doesn’t appear to be a full-time one, and will be in addition to a slew of other projects Lulla is involved in as part of his firm Linus Adventures. Linus, btw, is Sunil spelt ulta.
Lulla is an active runner (yes, a marathoner), loves swimming, working out in the gym, enjoys his movies, music and books, and if you are on his friend’s list, perhaps the first to greet you on your Big Days. And, yes, he is also good in mixology.
We don’t know how he is with mixing liquids. But the number of engagements and bosses he’s worked surely indicates he can mix things well. And Astrum is, as the communique claims, a “science-based” firm.
There is some history to the chemistry between Lulla and Singla (they known each and worked with each other for over two decades). Science, mixology… fireworks?!
Saregama has launched its new campaign for Saregama Carvaan with a series of seven films. The series focuses particularly on the product and the magical moments it can create everyday with its music.
Saregama, The Womb and the Director and the lead actor of Badhaai Ho have come together to create this campaign which talks about the different features of the product.
Said Kumar Ajit, Senior VP Sales and Marketing at Saregama: “After its high on emotion campaigns like ‘Aap ke pehle pyaar ke liye, aap ki maa ke liye’, ‘Is diwali aap kya sunnena chahenge shor ya sangeet’, ‘Jinhe aap kabhi keh nahi paaye unhe kahiye Thank You’ it was important to highlight Carvaan and its features in the most simplest manner. This is what our latest campaign is aimed at.”
Saregama has launched its first ever digital and TV film for its new product – portable digital audio player with in-built stereo speakers – Saregama Carvaan.
The film showcases the couple as they move through life and how a song is an integral part of their relationship. It is the husband’s stress buster, it is his solace, his happiness and joy. Until one day, the wife passes on and the song ceases to exist. Enter the son who has been observing the song and its role in the relationship of the couple and how troubled the dad is once the wife has passed on and the song no longer exists. He brings along Carvaan as a gift which may never replace the mother but most surely bring the song and associated memories back to life.
A 5-minute digital video, adapted to a 60-second television spot are the lead executions in this campaign.
Lodestar UM recently added another win by bagging the media duties of Saregama.
The company started operations over 115 years ago and today goes by the name Saregama India Ltd. Saregama is the custodian of over half of all the music ever recorded in India. The company owns the largest music archives in India, one of the biggest in the world.
After establishing its supremacy in India’s music scene, Saregama has now expanded into other areas of entertainment like publishing, television software and digital content. It also has full-fledged studio facilities in Kolkata making it one of the best end-to-end entertainment giants in the country.
Commenting on the development, Vikram Mehra, Managing Director – Saregama, said “At Saregama India, we want the users to experience our rich content in a manner which is disruptive and at the same time, accessible. Whether it is our latest offering, Saregama Music Cards or our highly engaging music apps, Saregama Shakti and Saregama Classical, we don’t want to leave any corners unturned and for that we wanted to partner with an agency like Lodestar UM who understands our needs. We are listed on the NSE and BSE, and are India’s largest and best-known music recording company.”
Nandini Dias, CEO Lodestar UM, seems very upbeat on this new win “We are happy and proud to have been trusted with Saregama and will partner the client across all its media needs. We are confident that with our differentiated offering and in-depth understanding of digital and offline media will help them get more value on the table”
Bhavesh Shah, GM, Lodestar UM, Mumbai said, “I am delighted at the win of Saregama. Saregama is all about music and youth which we at Lodestar understand very well, with properties like Coke Studioâ€.
Launched 16 years ago as a music channel, Star India’s Channel V is now turning into a full-fledged youth entertainment channel. Starting July 1, V will stop airing music programmes in India and focus on fiction and non-fiction shows. The reason: “Over the last two years, there has been an explosion of ‘music only’ channels, but everyone’s playing identical playlists,” says Prem Kamath, executive vice-president and general manager at Channel V. “In order to grow as a channel and as a brand, it has always been critical to have an offering that is unique in our competitive space,” he adds on being quizzed on the decision.
Many experts feel that it was bound to happen as more and more channels try to mould themselves to stay connected with what their target audience wants. But there many questions arise: could this mean the beginning of the end of music on TV? What is the future of music genre? Where is it headed?
The beginning
The scene for Indian music channels was set with the launch of MTV in the early 90s. Soon after, Channel V was launched in 1994, and since then there has been no looking back.
The launch of these music channels also led to a boom in international as well as Indie pop culture. However, it was shortlived and Bollywood music took over, and the two channels, along with many other launched afterwards, started playing popular filmi songs. But over a period of time, these two channels moved beyond playing only music with shows like Roadies, Splitsvilla and Dare 2 Date.
Hemant Kenkre
According to music columnist Narendra Kusnur, somewhere down the line for these channels, music took a backseat: “I’m sure any channel would do thorough research while trying to change their gameplan. So, if a music channel shifting towards being a youth entertainment channel is proved beneficial – for viewership as well as revenue – then it wouldn’t harm them to take such a step.”
He’s not alone in voicing this. Even Hemant Kenkre, a former music channel professional and a corporate and brand communications veteran, feels that channels are now branding themselves differently to reach out to their TG. He, however, does blame the availability of music on various platforms – radio, cellphones, laptops, iPods – as the reason for this shift. “Today, the youth is moving towards reality shows and they want it from the channels meant for them. As for music, they get their share of it from other mediums too.”
Luke Kenny
Former VJ, musician, actor and 9XO programming head Luke Kenny, on the other hand, feels that the channel (Channel V) decided to shift long back and has been moving slowly towards it, but there are still many who want music on television. “If music was dead on TV, then how would you explain other new music channels cropping up and doing well too?”
He added: “Having said that, I do believe that with more channels showcasing Bollywood songs, music channels have lost their niche and have just became promotional channels. Therefore, if a channel decides to change colours, it might work. And you never know, Star India might come up with a new music channel called Music OK.”
Industry talk
If one takes a look at various channels, be it music or a GEC, they will find that, there is a great deal of music in some or the other. We have music trailers/songs aired across all channels. Award shows, too, have musical performances and talent shows like Saregama, Indian Idol, DID and even celeb dance show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa are high on ratings.
Mohit Joshi
Therefore, according to media planners, the existence of specialised music channels is a difficult game. “Today, unfortunately for the masses in India, music equals to Bollywood. This is the challenge. This was not the case in the ’90s when there were a lot of private music albums that were launched -Silk Route et al, and the music channels were used for their amplification. So, there was something more than Bollywood, which is not the case today. In the current scenario, if music channels do not experiment with music or the content, then there is a fear that they will dilute their relevance over a period of time,” says Mohit Joshi, managing director, MPG India.
Adds Carat Media India’s senior VP Himanka Das: “Channel V’s decision to discontinue music is a welcome change and would offer interesting opportunities to build engagement content with the youth, considering the very little content that is available to them in entertainment beyond music. Music as a genre gets 6-7 per cent share in the youth segment of viewers with Channel V contributing 24 per cent to this share amongst 20+ channels. Channel V vacating this space is someone else’s gain!”
Punit Pandey
Meanwhile, other music channels aren’t perturbed and are waiting to see how the channel is accepted in its new avatar. As per TAM (CS4+, All India market), there has been a consistent growth in the music genre. In 2007, the genre share of music channels was 2.02 per cent whereas in 2012 (till week 24) the share has grown to 3.62 per cent.
Punit Pandey, senior VP and business head, 9X Media Group, agreed with Mr Das and added: “Music has, and will continue to, work on television. It is close to a Rs360-370 crore industry (in the HSM belt) and growing. More and more people are ‘watching’ music, so there is nothing to worry about for music channels at large.”
Nikhil Gandhi
Similarly, the view from UTV Bindass which started out as a Youth Entertainment Channel (YEC) and has been a pioneer in the segment is that though in the recent past music channels, especially MTV and Channel V, have started shifting focus from music to fictional and non-fictional shows, there is no reason for sleepless nights. “We have an advantage over other channels entering the YEC genre as we have already created a connect with the TG,” says Nikhil Gandhi, Disney UTV Executive Director – Youth Channels, Media Networks. And adds an alert: “So, I would like to tell other channels entering the YEC genre to work on their strategies well.”
Apprehensive marketers?
The change in positioning is due to the feeling that youngsters now have a strong spending power. And, hence, are targeted by various brands more than ever before. TV forms a core part of advertisement for these brands as youngsters also spend a lot of time in front of the television sets.
Simeran Bhasin
But what happens to youth brands if a channel changes its content strategy? According to the various marketing heads, the apprehensions will emerge if the channel isn’t clear about the shift and isn’t able to help a brand reach its TG.
“If the TG of a brand matches that of the channel, it won’t matter if they decide to change over a period of time. However, if there is a shift in TG then a brand would think twice before advertising on that channel,” says Simeran Bhasin, head – Marketing and Retail, Fastrack.
Harkirat Singh
MTV’s latest show Sound Trippin was partnered by Woodland because the brand feels that youth oriented channels helps them reach their TG. However, the brand is clear that it get associated with channels or shows only if it feels there is a connect between the brand and the viewers. “Like any other brand, while media planning, the TG of a certain channel is important for us. We look for shows which are able to reach and connect with our TG. So, if a channel changes its content plan, we will want to go through their new strategy to figure out where do we figure and how it can benefit us,” says Harkirat Singh, MD, Woodland.
Will the shift work?
According to the industry professionals, the change in content plan by a channel is done after a lot of research and only time can decide if it will work in its favour or not. However, they believe that a channel should remain true to its philosophy because otherwise it will lose its identify as well.
Samyak Chakrabarty
Expanding on it, Samyak Chakrabarty, MD, Electronic Youth Media Group and Chief Youth Marketer, DDB Mudra Group believes that ‘youth’ is a very misunderstood word and youngsters cannot be defined in one category as all depends on the exposure and the background one comes from. “In their perception to become ‘youth’ channels, they are getting muddled up and don’t know where they are headed. Today, a youngster cannot associate MTV or Channel V with anything like they do for other brands. For instance, technology means iPad, connectivity means Blackberry etc. I think music channels should have remained with what they started as, instead of losing their identify to gain more TRPs. Such moves will only lead to their downfall, in the long term.”
From being largely optimistic to one predicting a downfall, we received mixed reactions to the proposed change in Channel V’s identity. However, one thing is clear, no matter what Star India decides, there will be many who will wait to see what this mean for them and the genre, at large.
Saregama India has announced the launch of a new platform for popular mainstream artists to reach iconic heights in the music world called ‘Saregama’s Icons Nxt’ with UTV Bindass.
Saregama will create original music and will promote it on UTV Bindass. The initiative has yielded five exciting young talents and their performances will be showcased on UTV Bindass in a variety of contemporary genres. The artists that are being featured are of the likes of Samar and Sanam, Phoenyx, Nasha, Paapi 4 and The Dhol Factory.
Apurva Nagpal, MD, Saregama India said, “There has been a huge vacuum in the pop genre in India for many years. This is an endeavour to resurrect the genre.”
Adarsh Gupta, Business Head-Music, Saregama India said, “Saregama Icons Nxt with UTV Bindass is a platform to launch a wave of new artists year-on-year for reviving mainstream popular music. We believe that going forth this will be the leading platform for creating music icons of the next generation. We have tied up with several partners to promote this flagship property across platforms.”
Keith Alphonso, Business Head – UTV Bindass, said, “There is nothing new about the innate connection between music and youth. The youth has consistently defined the next wave of music. To create the next generation of music icons we are pleased to partner with Saregama Icons Nxt to promote the country’s finest and most talented young musicians. Through this partnership we look forward to further strengthen our connect with music and thereby with our audiences too.”
David MacDonald, Head of YouTube Partner Operations, Asia Pacific said, “We’re very excited to see a leading industry label like Saregama stepping forward to give budding singers and artists a platform to showcase their work and earn the praise they deserve. India is home to many talented singers and YouTube is a democratic platform that provides a unique opportunity to every individual to express themselves and pursue their passion online. Over the years we’ve seen many artists use YouTube to showcase their work, connect with their fans and become a overnight success. We’re confident that initiatives like these will go a long way in recognising and celebrating the independent artists in the country.”
Talent house, a global talent networking portal that addresses artists across creative initiatives is also supporting the endeavour, having agreed to front the search for this property for the next five seasons. Arun Mehra, CEO, Talenthouse India said, “Talenthouse is the world’s largest collaborative platform undertaking crowd sourcing creative invite’s for globally renowned industry names like U2, Metallica, Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, etc. We, at Talenthouse India are excited and looking forward to provide opportunities for creative artists to showcase their talent in India. Saregama India will be the perfect collaborative partner for the same”.
Flipkart, one of the largest Indian online shopping stores, has come on board to promote and retail the artist albums with heavy online support across platforms. They have initiated a pre booking feature for sale of CDs online.
Nokia has partnered Saregama India to launch the music of these talented artistes on Nokia Music Unlimited service – Nokia’s revolutionary digital music service for its devices. Mr Viral Oza, Marketing Director, Nokia India, said, “India certainly needs more platforms like Saregama’s Icons Nxt, given the enormous musical talent out there waiting to be explored. We are sure that our partnership with Saregama India will contribute towards promoting independent music in the country.”
The other brands associated with the property are Planet M which will promote and sell the music albums of the artist; and Big Cinemas the leading multiplex chain for promoting the property across their multiplexes.
Whoever said there’s no future for magazines in India?! Industrialist Sanjeev Goenka’s RPSG Lifestyle Media has inked an agreement with Hearst Magazines International to launch Esquire India under a multi- year licensing agreement.
