ITV

Tag: Amit Trivedi

  • Saavn Expands Original Programming with New Genres and A-List Entertainers

    Saavn Expands Original Programming with New Genres and A-List Entertainers

    MUMBAI: Saavn today revealed an entirely new slate of original programming to debut in August and September. The new collection of shows includes Film Companion with Anupama Chopra and #NoFilter Neha hosted by Neha Dhupia. Additionally, Raghu Dixit, internationally acclaimed Indian Indie musician & music director, joins Saavn’s Artist-in-Residence (AiR) program. These exciting announcements follow the launch of Saavn’s Original Programming in April 2016, which marked the evolution of India’s largest music streaming service into a multimedia entertainment streaming platform.

    Starting August 11th, Saavn Originals will premiereFilm Companion with Anupama Chopra. In addition to movie reviews, Film Companion will feature interviews with A-list film stars, as well an in-depth look at what’s worth watching in India’s ever-growing movie scene. “I’m very excited to be on Saavn,” said Anupama Chopra, “I’ve never done a long form audio show before and this is both an exciting and challenging opportunity. I hope to learn and grow with Saavn.”

    In Film Companion’s special premiere episode, Anupama talks to the who’s who of Bollywood music in a power-packed panel including music director duo Vishal-Shekhar, well-known Indian film composer, musician, singer and lyricist Amit Trivedi, and the famous music composer and a guitarist, Ehsaan Noorani, on the changing landscape and future of Bollywood and the music industry. Following this premiere, Film Companion with Anupama Chopra will stream twice weekly every Thursday and Friday on Saavn.

    Saavn also adds tongue-in-cheek talk show#NoFilter Neha with Neha Dhupia to the Saavn Originals lineup. Neha, a well-known Indian Bollywood actor and former Femina Miss India Universe 2002, will be in conversation with celebrities from Bollywood, fashion, sports, and music in her notoriously wicked style. “A big inspiration for me are Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres, Madonna and other dynamic strong women who are constantly pushing themselves and doing so many things,” said Neha Dupia. “For me having an audio chat show is another exciting challenge which I hope gives me another opportunity to show my quirky side. Saavn to me is a place where the talented meet the cool and vice-versa and I am happy to get on board with them as a content creator.”

    #NoFilter promises to shock, awe, and delight Saavn’s 18 million listeners starting mid-September.

    “This is a breakthrough moment for us,” said Gaurav Wadhwa, VP of Entertainment and Originals at Saavn. “In addition to widening our fan base, these new shows will help to solidify Saavn’s transition from music streaming to becoming a global entertainment streaming hub. We’re ecstatic to bring these shows to our growing audience and can’t wait to bring them even more fantastic programming.”

    Apart from these new shows, Saavn announces internationally renowned artist Raghu Dixit as the next musician to join Saavn’s Artist-in-Residence program, Saavn’s in-house program for independent and breakthrough artists. Building on AiR’s successful launch with popular electronic artist Nucleya, Dixit will create new music, playlists, collaborations and audio shows exclusively for Saavn, expanding Saavn’s already diverse Indie music and Regional music offerings.

    “I’m really excited about my partnership with Saavn for the Artist-in-Residence initiative,” said Raghu Dixit, “I love the freedom that Saavn gives the artist and the trust they display in giving artist full control over content being created. I know that with their diverse and highly engaged listeners, this partnership will be a great step forward in taking quality Indian independent music around the world.”

    Having previously performed for the Queen of England at the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in Windsor, as well as the largest festival in Glastonbury, Dixit is no stranger to the world stage. On August 5th, Dixit embarks on the most extensive tour of his career – the “Masterplan for Happiness” tour taking place in the U.S., Canada, Ireland and the U.K. To kick off Dixit’s debut as Saavn’s AiR, Saavn will be backing Dixit’s global tour by promoting the tour through Saavn’s app and social channels.

    The full slate of Saavn Originals, debuting this August and September, includes:

    1. Passport Approved with Sat Bisla, launching on 2nd August.

    2. Film Companion with Anupama Chopra, launching on 11th August.

    3. Ek Kahaani Aisi Bhi launching on 19th August.

    4. Audioboom syndicated shows launching in the first week of August:

    • Like-minded friends

    • The Comedy Score

    • Hip Hop saved my life with Romesh Ranganathan

    • The Cricket Podblast

    • Official Leicester City Podcast

    • United We Stand

    • The Football Forum

    • Walsh on Film

    • Undisclosed – State vs Adnan Syed

    5. #NoFilter Neha by Neha Dhupia launching mid-September

  • Saavn Expands Original Programming with New Genres and A-List Entertainers

    Saavn Expands Original Programming with New Genres and A-List Entertainers

    MUMBAI: Saavn today revealed an entirely new slate of original programming to debut in August and September. The new collection of shows includes Film Companion with Anupama Chopra and #NoFilter Neha hosted by Neha Dhupia. Additionally, Raghu Dixit, internationally acclaimed Indian Indie musician & music director, joins Saavn’s Artist-in-Residence (AiR) program. These exciting announcements follow the launch of Saavn’s Original Programming in April 2016, which marked the evolution of India’s largest music streaming service into a multimedia entertainment streaming platform.

    Starting August 11th, Saavn Originals will premiereFilm Companion with Anupama Chopra. In addition to movie reviews, Film Companion will feature interviews with A-list film stars, as well an in-depth look at what’s worth watching in India’s ever-growing movie scene. “I’m very excited to be on Saavn,” said Anupama Chopra, “I’ve never done a long form audio show before and this is both an exciting and challenging opportunity. I hope to learn and grow with Saavn.”

    In Film Companion’s special premiere episode, Anupama talks to the who’s who of Bollywood music in a power-packed panel including music director duo Vishal-Shekhar, well-known Indian film composer, musician, singer and lyricist Amit Trivedi, and the famous music composer and a guitarist, Ehsaan Noorani, on the changing landscape and future of Bollywood and the music industry. Following this premiere, Film Companion with Anupama Chopra will stream twice weekly every Thursday and Friday on Saavn.

    Saavn also adds tongue-in-cheek talk show#NoFilter Neha with Neha Dhupia to the Saavn Originals lineup. Neha, a well-known Indian Bollywood actor and former Femina Miss India Universe 2002, will be in conversation with celebrities from Bollywood, fashion, sports, and music in her notoriously wicked style. “A big inspiration for me are Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres, Madonna and other dynamic strong women who are constantly pushing themselves and doing so many things,” said Neha Dupia. “For me having an audio chat show is another exciting challenge which I hope gives me another opportunity to show my quirky side. Saavn to me is a place where the talented meet the cool and vice-versa and I am happy to get on board with them as a content creator.”

    #NoFilter promises to shock, awe, and delight Saavn’s 18 million listeners starting mid-September.

    “This is a breakthrough moment for us,” said Gaurav Wadhwa, VP of Entertainment and Originals at Saavn. “In addition to widening our fan base, these new shows will help to solidify Saavn’s transition from music streaming to becoming a global entertainment streaming hub. We’re ecstatic to bring these shows to our growing audience and can’t wait to bring them even more fantastic programming.”

    Apart from these new shows, Saavn announces internationally renowned artist Raghu Dixit as the next musician to join Saavn’s Artist-in-Residence program, Saavn’s in-house program for independent and breakthrough artists. Building on AiR’s successful launch with popular electronic artist Nucleya, Dixit will create new music, playlists, collaborations and audio shows exclusively for Saavn, expanding Saavn’s already diverse Indie music and Regional music offerings.

    “I’m really excited about my partnership with Saavn for the Artist-in-Residence initiative,” said Raghu Dixit, “I love the freedom that Saavn gives the artist and the trust they display in giving artist full control over content being created. I know that with their diverse and highly engaged listeners, this partnership will be a great step forward in taking quality Indian independent music around the world.”

    Having previously performed for the Queen of England at the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations in Windsor, as well as the largest festival in Glastonbury, Dixit is no stranger to the world stage. On August 5th, Dixit embarks on the most extensive tour of his career – the “Masterplan for Happiness” tour taking place in the U.S., Canada, Ireland and the U.K. To kick off Dixit’s debut as Saavn’s AiR, Saavn will be backing Dixit’s global tour by promoting the tour through Saavn’s app and social channels.

    The full slate of Saavn Originals, debuting this August and September, includes:

    1. Passport Approved with Sat Bisla, launching on 2nd August.

    2. Film Companion with Anupama Chopra, launching on 11th August.

    3. Ek Kahaani Aisi Bhi launching on 19th August.

    4. Audioboom syndicated shows launching in the first week of August:

    • Like-minded friends

    • The Comedy Score

    • Hip Hop saved my life with Romesh Ranganathan

    • The Cricket Podblast

    • Official Leicester City Podcast

    • United We Stand

    • The Football Forum

    • Walsh on Film

    • Undisclosed – State vs Adnan Syed

    5. #NoFilter Neha by Neha Dhupia launching mid-September

  • Star Gold HD to premiere ‘Guddu Rangeela’

    Star Gold HD to premiere ‘Guddu Rangeela’

    MUMBAI: Star Gold HD, known for its exclusivity in curating unique movies for its audiences, once again astonishes them with the World Television Premiere of ‘Guddu Rangeela’. The movie is to be premiered first on the channel, adding a unique quotient to it. Known for his satirical comical dramas Phas Gaye Re Obama and Jolly LLB, Director Subhash Kapoor’s Guddu Rangeela is a quirky take on the real-life incident of Manoj-Babli honour killing case. Not to forget the music, the songs have been composed by none other than Amit Trivedi which has managed to please the music lovers with super catchy tracks like ‘Mata ka email’ that has minimal music and super quirky lyrics.

     

    Based in the dusty plains of north India, the story is about two cousins Guddu (Amit Sadh) and Rangeela (Arshad Warsi), trying to make ends meet in the crime infested surroundings. They are the members of a local village orchestra while moonlighting as khabris for the local gangs. The duo gets embroiled into a controversy and to escape from that they need a huge sum. To arrange the ransom money, they kidnap the deaf and mute girl named ‘Baby’ (Aditi Rao Hydari) only to be shocked to know that Baby has a hidden agenda. Suddenly the terror spilling villainous local political leader Billo (Ronit Roy) gets in action and the story later takes an interesting twist which leads to funny sequences.

     

    So gear up to watch this thought-provoking lighthearted film, ‘Guddu Rangeela’ only on Star Gold HD on 5 September at 8:00 pm.

  • Gaana.com unveils new campaign with ‘Dil ka Gaana’

    Gaana.com unveils new campaign with ‘Dil ka Gaana’

    MUMBAI:  “If music be the food of love, play on!” With these opening words of Twelfth Night, Shakespeare captured an essential bond between two things which human can never do without. The co-relation between music and love has long been established and Gaana.com has decided to re-establish the truth further.

     

    After the success of its first musical campaign ‘Bas Bajna Chahiye Gaana’, Gaana.com has released a new musical advertising campaign ‘Dil Ka Gaana’ that captures and follows a love story between two characters – Ayaan and Rhea.

     

    Using a series of episodes capturing a musical journey of these two young protagonists, Ayaan Khanna and Rhea Bajaj, Gaana will weave a romantic tale.

     

    The campaign showcases India’s first musical episodic series capturing a modern day love story of two strangers coming together because of music.

     

    The music for the campaign has been composed by Amit Trivedi and sung by Ash King and Neeti Mohan.

     

    Produced by Gaana productions, the trailer of the short film hit television screens on 21 June 2015.

     

    Times Internet VP, marketing Pratik Mazumder said, “We all know music connects people. Sometimes a moment of musical magic connects deeper and creates lifelong bonds. Gaana.com with its wide array of music content helps create moments of such magic.”

  • Hungama.com augments ‘Studio Diaries’ part 2; ties-up with Facebook

    Hungama.com augments ‘Studio Diaries’ part 2; ties-up with Facebook

    MUMBAI: Hungama.com has launched the second part of the ‘Hungama Studio Diaries’ by tying-up exclusively with Facebook. The ‘Studio Diaries’ are video capsules of current musical icons that paid homage to Kalyanji-Anandji at the Hungama Studio launched exclusively over the social media platform.

     

    The association, which began with the launch of the first video in March 2015, has, within a short period of its launch, registered over 1.5 lac views from across the globe and has seen thousands of interactions over Hungama.com’s Facebook. The video is a montage of artists that sang the hit song ‘Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas’ created by legendary duo Kalyanji-Anandji. Musicians like Arijit Singh, Daler Mehendi, Shaan, Pritam, Amit Trivedi, Hariharan, Abhijeet and Armaan Malik are seen in the video performing their own renditions of the timeless classic at Hungama Studio.

     

    Part 2 of the Hungama Studio Diaries just came out today exclusively on Facebook and will show Atif Aslam, Shraddha Kapoor, Shankar Mahadevan, Zakir Hussain, Sivamani, Leslie Lewis, Benny Dayal, Ankit Tiwari, Vasuda Sharma, Aakriti Kakkar, Kanika Kapoor and Runa Rizvi performing their renditions of Kalyanji-Anandji’s hit numbers ‘Har Kisiko Nahi Milta’ and ‘Laila O Laila’.

     

    Speaking on the association with Facebook and success of the first video, Siddhartha Roy, CEO of Hungama.com said, “Hungama Studio has conceptualized this track to celebrate the evergreen music of Kalyanji-Anandji. The video of the renditions sung by this generation’s most loved artists has been appreciated by one and all over Facebook. The idea to exclusively launch this video over Facebook has brought about massive consumer reach and great results, seeing its success we are all set to launch the 2nd part of our video series. Our association with Facebook has been mutually beneficial, with this we hope to continue building on our space of original content and sharing this exclusively with our subscribers.”

  • MTV revamps Coke Studio format; to air all year round

    MTV revamps Coke Studio format; to air all year round

    MUMBAI: An experiment that began with fusion music over three seasons back is all set to return once again. Coke Studio @MTV season four is all set to telecast in a new format this year.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about the same, MTV EVP and business head Aditya Swamy said that the success of the property today lay in the fact that filmmakers have started asking music composers to produce songs, which have a Coke Studio feel to them.

     

    MTV and Coca Cola have followed two cues to take the show’s new season forward. “Firstly, we have decided to bring audio and video together to refresh audiences through music videos. Secondly, it has been learnt that people are consuming singles rather than albums. Therefore, we will move from episodes to singles throughout the year.”

     

    The format for this year will see a change. The property will move from seasons to “always on” for one year now. It will be narrated in the form of a story instead of just vanilla songs. The series will begin on 1 March 2015 and will air every first Sunday of the month at 8 pm. 

     

    The production will include three elements. The first element of the show will include producer profiles and the idea behind the song. Secondly, it will have studio sessions and the setup of the band and lastly there will be a novel element, which will be a stylized video and audio told in the form of a story. Each of these videos and audios will release simultaneously across all MTV platforms. It will be deployed across all audio and video platforms like YouTube, Saavn, Gaana and iTunes by Zee Music. The channel will also be re-releasing two audience favourites “Madari” and “Kattey” with new music videos.

     

    Speaking about the learning’s the channel has picked up so far, Swamy said that it has been to come up with better innovations. “In the technical sphere we have learnt to produce audio and video side by side. With the response we have garnered, we could find courage to innovate and come up with a format that not only caters to loyalists but also help bring on board new consumers,” Swamy informed.

     

    Talking about the brand integration concept, Swamy said that the two have seen a long term investment partnership. “People will take to branded content if the music is good, but if the content is not good and is in the consumers face directly they will hate the same,” he opined.

     

    The global beverage brand Coca Cola owns the IP of the property, which has its presence in other countries like Pakistan and therefore the channel does not resort to other advertisers coming onboard. 

     

    Speaking about the brand’s association with MTV, Coca Cola India and South West Asia VP marketing and commercial Debabrata Mukherjee said, “We are constantly in touch to come up with engaging content. When we began, we did not realise the groundswell response we would receive. Since 2013 to 2014 we have visited more than 15 cities visiting different colleges as part of our on ground events.” 

     

    This year Coke Studio will continue bring the live experiences through 50 concerts and outreach programmes reaching 100 colleges across 10 cities.

     

    Mukherjee informed that the property has become hugely popular over seasons. Sharing some insights, he said Coke Studio @MTV has registered over 150 million+ reach across all three seasons. On social media platforms, it has garnered 64 million view on YouTube and 2.9 million fans on Facebook. He also informed that the brand is open to inviting international artists to India.

     

    Speaking on the association of the two partners Group M ESP national director- entertainment sports and live events Vinit Karnik opined, “The property has become very much synonymous with the brand. There is also a lot of cult following that consumes this kind of music. At some point in time, it will definitely resonate with the brand and the TG. From a relevance point of view this has worked for the brand Coca Cola as people have become very much synonymous with the brand.”

     

    The line up for this season includes the likes of Amit Trivedi, Pritam, Papon, Clinton Cerejo, Sachin-Jingar, Ram Sampath, Sneha Khanwalkar, Harshdeep Kaur, Raftaar and Rekha Bhardwaj. 

     

    When asked about the property’s USP, Bhardwaj said, “Coke Studio @MTV has allowed us artists to treat the platform as our own. It has also helped popularise folk as well contemporary music through fusion. Every episode will feature a single song and will allow us to take our own interpretation to the audiences.”

  • 9X Media’s tribute to music pays off!

    9X Media’s tribute to music pays off!

    MUMBAI: “Where words fail, music speaks,” once said a Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. And for music channel 9X Media, it seems to have spoken pretty loudly.

     

    On the eve of ‘World Music Day’ which falls on 21 June every year, the music channel, like in the past two years, decided to celebrate it with style even for the third consecutive time.

     

    The music broadcaster which launched a music video Music Dil Mein to welcome and celebrate the D-Day, seems to have struck the right chord with the viewers.

     

    The video, a celebration of music by 13 superstar singers of India, which was uploaded on YouTube went viral in a very short span generating around 587,586 views.

     

    Produced by GSEAMS Production, this 3 minute 30 second video featured Sid Mahadevan, Shalmali Kholgade, Anushka Manchanda, Benny Dayal, Harshdeep Kaur, Amit Trivedi, Pappon, Rochak Kohli, Neeti Mohan, Hamsika Iyer, Shruti Pathak, Shweta Pandit and Palak Muchhal.

     

    According to 9X Media senior VP – digital Vibha Gosher no gimmick and limited spends was used to make the video a success.

     

    “What we ride upon is the ear for music. It was four months ago that we decided to celebrate ‘World Music Day’ by creating a music video. When we heard the final product we knew that this was a clear winner. This would not need any gimmicks or any big marketing strategies because the song itself was so good,” expresses Gosher.

     

    It took around two and half months to create the video. According to Gosher, artists were happy to come on-board and celebrate ‘World Music Day’ with 9X Media.

     

    “Artists were very happy to be a part of the video. Initially, we had about eight-nine artists, but then people kept coming on-board. We at 9X Media, celebrate music in everything that we do. Yes, particularly this day, we go out and tell the world that we are celebrating music,” adds Gosher.

     

    Besides one main video on YouTube, 17 other versions were also uploaded by users that have fetched around 50,000 views collectively. Not only are the 9X channels airing the music video, but it is also available across all major digital song platforms like saavan.com and gana.com.

     

    The video is also available to users as caller ring back tone (CRBT) and ringtones with major telecom providers. The song Music Dil Mein was played at midnight on 20 June across 170 lounges in the country. Estimates place the footfalls in these lounges at around 45,000 that night.

     

    “Our work was to establish the reach. We knew that once any user hears the song he is going to love it. Our job was only to make this song available to the user in some format on some platform or the other. We needed the song to be available if the person was searching for it. That was the spread we established for the song,” asserts Gosher.

     

    Digital played an important medium for the network apart from television. The video was promoted across all digital platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube.

     

    The network has an in-house strong social media team. Interestingly, in the span of two and half days, its official twitter page saw 900 tweets going out across communities. The network just re-engaged in the tweets.

     

    According to Gosher, it was a joint effort that led to the success of the video. “The product is kickass and its success is a joint effort of all the singers as well. The video was their tribute to music too. They were celebrating music with us,” opines Gosher.

     

    Written and composed by Rochak Kohli (Pani Da Rang fame), the music video was programmed, mixed and mastered by Ravi Singhal.

     

    In 2012, the channel installed a ‘9XM Wall of Music’ at a couple of locations in Mumbai and Delhi to celebrate the day. Based on the augmented reality technology, the ‘Wall of Music’ enabled multiple song downloads from the latest Bollywood movies. In 2013, it launched a unique song titled Tung Tucking Ting, which emphasised the Network’s connect with music.

     

    “We will continue celebrating music with musicians. They are collaborating with us for a whole lot of new initiatives across all our channel properties,” concludes Gosher.

  • GSEAMS Produces “Music Dil Mein” anthem for 9XM featuring top 13 bollywood singers

    GSEAMS Produces “Music Dil Mein” anthem for 9XM featuring top 13 bollywood singers

    MUMBAI: GSEAMS (Global Sports Entertainment And Media Solutions Pvt Ltd) which in less than a year’s time has  successfully established their 4 core divisions  “GSEAMS-Media Solutions” , “GSEAMS –Production”, “GSEAMS – Movie Marketing” & “GSEAMS – Talent Management” produce 9XM’s  music video for world music day, “Music Dil Mein” under their “GSEAMS –Production” banner.

    The video Music Dil Mein is first of its kind music video that features 13 top Bollywood Singers singing to Rochak Kohli’s (of ‘Paani da rang’ fame) composition. Singers being: Amit Trivedi, Benny Dayal, Shruti Pathak, Anushka Manchandani, Hamsika Iyer, Harshdeep Kaur, Neeti Mohan, Rochak Kohli, Shweta Pandit, Siddharth Madhavan, Papon, Shalmali Kholgade & Palak Muchhal representing different genres of music. This Music video was launched on  World Music Day. This video was launched across all the 9XM channels, Saavn.com, Gaana.com, Radiocity and Youtube which has touched 2.8  lakh views in less than 6 days. Composer and Music Director Rochak Kohli said, “I am extremely glad to create such a beautiful composition for world music day with the top youth singers of bollywood. I have known Arjun and Kartik before they started GSEAMS , its always been a pleasure working with them and look forward to working on such exciting projects in the future”.

    Adding to which Amit Trivedi said, “Amit Trivedi said, “It was great fun being a part of a beautiful music anthem like Music Dil Mein. I am very pleased as my fans have loved it. Such Initiative which 9XM & GSEAMS has undertaken will surely touch the souls of all music lovers”. ”

    Speaking on their experience of producing this one of its kind song, for the first time ever for the cause of music, Arjun Singgh Baran and Kartik Nishandar, Directors of GSEAMS said, “We are extremely proud to have been associated with “Music Dil Mein” anthem featuring  top Bollywood singers and has touched many hearts in the past 6 days and hope to see it become a success very soon. We look forward to doing such out of the box content for 9XM and would like to thank Punit Pandey EVP, 9X Media, Amar Tidke (Sr VP, Content Head 9X Media) & Kapil Sharma (VP, Marketing 9X Media) to put forward such an exciting opportunity to work with the network”.

    Commenting on the association Amar Tidke (Sr VP, Content Head 9X Media) said “This is our second initiative that we have partnered with GSEAMS & its been quite a funfilled experience for us. We look forward to working on more such exciting content in the near future.”

    Further Adding to the same Kapil Sharma (VP, Marketing) quoted, “It’s a very exciting piece that has been created by GSEAMS. They have completely justified the unique cause of celebrating world music day. The song has touched 2.8 lakh views in such a short span we look forward to it creating a stir amongst the music lovers.”

  • 9X Media launches ‘Music Dil Mein’ on World Music Day

    9X Media launches ‘Music Dil Mein’ on World Music Day

    MUMBAI: “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything” are the famous words of Greek philosopher Plato which stand true even today.

     

    On the occasion of World Music Day, 21 June, 9X Media is celebrating the day in a musical way. Last year, the channel got tremendous response to music video ‘Tung Tucking Ting’. This year, the network has planned to make it bigger and better. It has created a music video ‘Music Dil Mein’, featuring India’s current top 13 Bollywood music talent.

     

    The music video will be launched across all the five channels and digital platforms of 9X Media. The network will go all out to truly live the spirit of the day and celebrate it.

     

    “We believe engagement with the consumers in the space that we are in is to engage with consumers and best way to drive point that, is ‘think music, think 9XM’,” says 9X Media Network EVP and business head Punit Pandey.

     

    Composed by Rochak Kohli, ‘Music Dil Mein’ features India’s current top 13 Bollywood music talents -Sid Mahadevan, Shalmali Kholgade, Anushka Manchanda, Benny Dayal, Harshdeep Kaur, Amit Trivedi, Pappon, Rochak Kohli, Neeti Mohan, Hamsika Iyer, Shruti Pathak, and Shweta Pandit.

     

    “World Music Day is a property for us; this is the third year we are celebrating it and year-on-year it is only getting bigger. It is not just for a day, but for the next two weeks that the song which we have collaborated with the artists is going to be played on our network,” informs 9X Media SVP and head of content Amar Tidke.

     

    Moreover, the channel has designed a special programming line-up for the day. It will air all the hits of AR Rahman, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Amit Trivedi and many more famous artists’ throughout the day.

     

    To popularise the video, the channel has got Bollywood stars as well as the animated characters of the channel on board.

     

    The channel has tied up with Sony Music which will distribute the song on digital platforms. “Since out TG is always online, second screens play a vital role in our strategy. Digital platforms have become an important tool for us to reach out to our target audience,” says Pandey.

     

    According to Sony Music India marketing director Sanujeet Bhujabal, it is a great song and it will be using all their marketing muscle to ensure the song reaches out to fans. “Having worked with 9X Media in the past we are sure together we will create new success with the song.”

     

    Promotional activities

     

    ‘Music Dil Mein’ will be promoted through on-ground initiatives across India. The Network has associated with over 150 night clubs and lounges across India which will be playing the club mix of ‘Music Dil Mein’ simultaneously on the midnight of 20 June to welcome the World Music Day.

     

    Besides the on-ground initiatives the video will be promoted across radio through RadioCity. The music video will be available as a whole song and RBT cuts across all telecom partners via SMS (SMMDM to 56060). The Network has also launched a series of innovative digital initiatives.

     

    The track will be available on YouTube in five different versions – a Karaoke version, two lyrics videos, a remix video and an unmixed instrumental track besides the original rendition. 9X Media has also created an Android application on which the music track can be easily downloaded.

     

    “The attempt is to ensure that it reaches out to the maximum people and there are millions of people who like music,” concludes Pandey.

  • MTV’s goal: Make voting ‘cool’

    MTV’s goal: Make voting ‘cool’

    MUMBAI: It’s been a week since the Lok Sabha elections started, and since then social media has been flooded with ‘ungli’ pictures.

    Many believe that 2014 elections will see a better turnout than previous years. Thanks to not only the anti-incumbency votes, but also the 12 crore first-time voters who will play an important role.

    Political parties have left no stone unturned to put forward their vision and mission for the coming years, news channels are busy questioning and highlighting those motives. However, this time around, general entertainment channels (GECs) too have joined in to educate and urge people to go out and vote.

    With 12 crore first-time voters, the youth entertainment channels have taken upon themselves to make sure that youngsters go out and exercise their right. “We have more than 12 crore first time voters. It is not that they are unaware and don’t care about the nation; but, they do need a strong motivation to go out and vote,” says MTV marketing and insights head Sumeli Chatterjee.

    The channel started a ‘Rock The Vote’ campaign in December and will continue till the elections end. The channel’s seven-month long initiative’s ultimate objective is to make voting cool; so much so that a person feels embarrassed to step out without the voter-ink mark on the day of elections.

    MTV ‘Rock The Vote’ was created at the intersection of politics and pop-culture and was presented as an integrated media initiative that would drive conversations around elections. The campaign that sounds a wake-up call for the youth to vote drives on a simple philosophy – If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.

    Based on the study done by the channel, even though youth has a comment and opinion on everything around them – whether it is the traffic, professor, food or even weather and they voraciously tweet, post and share their point-of-views. Yet, somehow their participation in voting process has been traditionally poor. The study states 97 per cent of the youth agree that they can bring about change, but only 15 per cent feel they have a say in choosing the government.

    To change this, the campaign was launched.

     

    But is the youth ready to listen? “We have kept the communication simple, direct and tongue-in-cheek; so that it resonates with the young, rather than sound preachy. We created a host of sharable assets like funnies and cartoons, music anthem, merchandise, crowd-sourced videos – that the youngsters can share with each other while engaging in a serious discussion on elections. Music, humour and Bollywood, are the three anchor points for MTV ‘Rock the Vote’ campaign,” answers Chatterjee.

    And since, youth is constantly in an attention deficit state, to sustain interest for more than seven months was a herculean task for the channel. In order to keep it alive and buzzing among the TG, it tried to keep every part of the initiative very interactive with crowd sourced videos, engagements across colleges integrating the college festivals, tongue-in-cheek cartoons, hashtag wars, voter-ink selfies etc.

    Social media especially Twitter played a lead role in driving the interactivity along with the on-ground college concerts with Mohit Chauhan, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Indian Ocean, Arijit Singh, Amit Trivedi etc. “We also launched a new mobile feature on Twitter that enabled offline users to listen to the conversations on #RockTheVote – this is the first time across the world, that this feature was made available to users. The best endorsement of a philosophy is when the fan wears the same. With Puma, MTV has launched a new t-shirt range promoting the messaging for voting this election,” she adds.

    The Twitter Townhalls included real time Q&A on youth issues like freedom of speech on social media, education system and reforms, job opportunities etc. On-ground activities included voter education/registration camps across 40 plus colleges along with live debate amongst student groups on elections and youth issues. An half an hour series was created on MTV that brings a funny and satirical take on these youth issues. It also brings in organisations / people from their respective fields to put out their views on the issues. For example, Greenpeace was invited as a spokesperson for the episode that dealt with environment issues on MTV ‘Rock The Vote’ series on Television.

    In-collaboration with young Bollywood stars like Varun Dhawan, Nargis Fakhri, Ileana D’Cruz, Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor, the channel has created short vignettes. Half an hour satirical bulletins with stand-up comedians on the state of various national issues that affect the citizens, an anthem and music video with Papon and Clinton Cerojo, have also been created to spread the word. The MTV t-shirt range with Puma is in retail already promoting the messaging for voting this election.

    Apart from this, the channel has also partnered with ‘Rock the Vote (USA)’, a non-profit, non-partisan organisation which pushes political awareness amongst youth across many countries including the USA, Canada and Chile.

    Although, media agencies handling political parties have signed special in-programming deals with some channels, MTV has association with political parties only from an awareness creation perspective. They haven’t included them in its regular programming schedule. But does the channel see the youngsters imbibing it in real life too? “The youngsters are really smart. Talk to them in their lingo, and they love to talk back. The Twitter Townhall and the Live Debates with leading political party spokespersons like Congress, BJP and AAP, saw a reach of 14 million plus on Twitter. So yes, we do see the youth making an effort to understand the process and the people involved. Once the interest is developed, the action will follow,” says Chatterjee optimistically.
     

    And with its social media buzzing with activities like selfies of the voter-ink marks, the channel feels it has won the battle, it had started in December.

    So, ‘Don’t be a Goat, go Rock the Vote’, MTV style.