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Tag: Guvera

  • Guvera brings data saving to India

    Guvera brings data saving to India

    MUMBAI: Australian-owned music streaming service Guvera will expand its data saving function to India along with all 20 markets it operates in globally, allowing users to significantly reduce their data usage while streaming music.

     

    Starting 14 July, when users listen to a track through Guvera, they will have access to advanced audio buffering technology, thus significantly reducing the data impact of playing the song again in the future.

     

    Guvera CEO Darren Herft said that this decision has been made to ensure customers have unlimited access to Guvera’s music library and curated playlists, without being restricted by excessive data consumption.

     

    “Guvera is focused on providing customers with the music they love, on their terms. Data is an increasingly important commodity and our data saving function ensures we are meeting the needs of music lovers,” Herft said.

     

    In terms of functionality, as users navigate through Guvera, they will see a green arrow next to songs after they have been streamed once. This arrow indicates that when streamed in the future, data will not be used.

     

    “For customers who stream hours of music every month, the ability to save data could have a huge impact on their monthly (phone) bill and help them keep more money in their pocket,” Herft added. 

  • Quality and versatile music is the way forward for Guvera: Ananya Amin

    Quality and versatile music is the way forward for Guvera: Ananya Amin

    MUMBAI: Global music streaming app Guvera, which was founded in 2008, recently reached the milestone of 10 million global users. In India, the app touched the three million users mark. Guvera international manager India and Middle East Ananya Amin is buoyed by the response so far in India. 

     

    “India is a versatile country with huge music fans, and in such short span the growth we achieved is indeed a matter of glory. Having said that, I must also say that we sense huge possibility of further growth in India where the smartphone base is increasing at a high rate,” Amin said.

     

    Streaming habit in India is very different from the West and is changing at a very slow pace, which can emerge as a strong challenge for apps like Guvera. When asked about the same, Amin said, “The ecosystem in India needs to mature. What we observe from our analysis is that in some part of the county we are very dominant, while in other parts we are at a very nascent stage. Hence, we understand that streaming itself is a new aspect and gradually with the betterment of technology, the streaming habit will also change.”

     

    “Independent rock and alternate rock are the genres that get maximum Indians to Guvera other than Bollywood and regional content. Independent bands and musicians whom we have featured so far have got immense encouragement and the audience also enjoyed their music. Going forward, we have aspirations of enhancing that base,” said Amin on the streaming trends observed in India.

     

    Be it sports commentary, news broadcasting or music, regional content garners maximum visibility in India. “Regional content plays a vital role in India and we have associated with numerous regional content creators, who create quality content to entertain audiences. Speed Records in Punjab & Shri Venkatesh Films in West Bengal are amongst them. Wherever there is scope, we will expand with further associations,” He said.

     

    Guvera is an ad based platform with ads as the only source of revenue. “Brands are happy with us because of the content we provide to our subscribers. Brands like Yes Bank, Harley Rock Riders, Ezeego1, Shaadi.com, Amazon, BookMyShow and McDonald’s have partnered with us and it’s a very cordial relationship, which is extremely fortunate for us,” adds Amin on the advertisers’ reaction so far.

     

    There are multiple apps providing similar content and hence it is important to have a good marketing and promotional strategy for which many organizations hire a creative agency. When asked about the marketing strategy and spend of Guvera, Amin informed, “We don’t have an association with any creative agency as our in house team orchestrates the creative strategies. In terms of marketing spends, our key focus is in India and that’s where we will be spending aggressively. Live events are integral part of our promotional activities and we will focus on that part too. Recently, we did Harley Rock Riders in partnership with Harley Davidson, which was a huge success. Going forward, we are looking at having many such activities.”

     

    “The obstacle that we have in our way has to be the Internet. Indian telecom is hugely dominated by pre-paid subscribers and with data being on the expensive side, it is very tough to penetrate to many such consumers, who would be interested in the product. However, with 3G spreading its network and the roll out of 4G, I must say that there are encouraging times ahead of us,” says Amin.

     

    Talking about the future, Amin informs, “Going forward, I am very confident that we will stand tall and emerge as the leader when it comes to music streaming industry. I think we have everything that an app needs, to succeed. We are also positioning ourselves as a platform that encourage independent musicians. Independent bands without a platform are more than welcome to join hands with us.”

  • Music streaming service Guvera tots 10 million users globally; 3 million in India

    Music streaming service Guvera tots 10 million users globally; 3 million in India

    MUMBAI: Global music streaming service Guvera has reached a milestone of 10 million users. Achieving yet another milestone since its inception in India, Guvera has now garnered a database of over three million users in India.

     

    Guvera has grown from a user base of 1.5 million users in October 2014, to 10 million users in April 2015 globally. A growth that is a testament to their impact on the music streaming industry globally – with over 35,000 users joining the service each day, across the world, over the past 22 weeks.

     

    This milestone follows hot on the heels of Guvera’s acquisition of blinkbox Music in the UK from Tesco in January 2015, which brought with it 2.5 million registered users. One of Guvera’s fastest-growing markets, India, has also just recently celebrated its three millionth user, representing significant growth since launching in November 2014.

     

    “As a young brand, we welcome the 10 millionth user to the Guvera platform with a real sense of pride and delight. We’re thrilled to see Guvera’s global community growing daily and we hope to bring more music lovers on board as we enter new markets in 2015. We believe our growth is also testament to the success of our unique non-disruptive ad-funded model, which allows our users to discover and play the best expert curated music,” said Guvera CEO Darren Herft.

     

    Guvera’s commitment to providing music via an ad-funded model is continuing to be seamlessly integrated with the user experience via the use of branded channels. Brands including Yes Bank, Harley Rock Riders, Ezeego1 and Shaadi.com have partnered with Guvera to bring the innovative concept of Branded Channels to life, giving Guvera users exclusive access to their playlists, offers and content.

     

    Herft added, “Branded channels are a great example of how users are able to engage with brands in a less disruptive manner. Guvera is putting the consumer in charge of the advertising experience. Moreover, advertisers know that they are paying for ads that consumers want. We believe that Guvera is a platform for advertisers and brands to connect with a significant database of users, made possible with the help of Guvera’s innovative content-targeting algorithm.”

     

    The company will continue to focus on its ‘programmed globally, tuned locally’ approach. Guvera’s growth has been helped by its unique customer focused services that are conceptualized by placing the user at the centre of its innovation.

     

    Additionally, the company has also released listening trends based on the Indian user consumption data gathered by its local team in the market. The research points out that amongst the Indian user landscape, the states of West Bengal, Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu are India’s top music streaming states. Amongst these findings, it was also seen that India’s top 3 streamed artists were Arijit Singh at No.1, followed by Yo Yo Honey Singh at No. 2 and Divya Kumar at No.3.

     

    The top category of playlists that resonated most with the users were #love, #dance, #Rahman (music by AR Rahman) and #Pop. Lastly, the research also throws light on the demographics that are most active with the age groups between 18 – 24 years and 25 – 29 years emerging at the top.

     

    Guvera’s global partnership with Lenovo will also see the Guvera app pre-loaded onto Lenovo smartphones and tablets across a potential 160 markets in which Lenovo operates, giving Guvera huge potential to reach millions more people around the world.

     

    Earlier this month, Guvera debuted its newest innovation Fradio at SXSW. Currently available in the USA and Australia (with plans to further expand in 2015), via iOS and Android, Fradio allows users to host their own radio broadcasts using tracks on the Guvera music library. Friends and fans can then listen to and interact with the broadcast in real time, through live talk-back, comments and track requests.

  • Universal Music signs deal with `The Art of Living’ to make its repertoire available globally

    Universal Music signs deal with `The Art of Living’ to make its repertoire available globally

    MUMBAI: Universal Music India announced their exclusive association with The Art of Living organization to globally make available it’s audio and video content across categories like Bhajans, Chants, Guided Meditation, Health & Wellness, and Instrumental amongst others. As a part of a multi-phase release plan, Universal Music has just released 51 albums in physical and digital format all over the world except the territory of US.
     
    The content is available across leading music stores and also popular e-commerce portals like Flipkart and Amazon as well as digitally via sites like You tube, Google Play, i-tunes, Hungama. The content is also available on streaming sites like Saavan, Gaana, Wynk, Vodafone Music, Guvera and Beats.
     
    Over the last 30 years The Art Of Living organization has released Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s discourse and music in both Video and Audio formats with the sole purpose of spreading his message to as many people as possible. And now, over 20000 hours of this content will be made available worldwide for the first time through the global presence of the Universal Music Group.
     
    Says Devraj Sanyal, Managing Director, Universal Music Group, South Asia“I am very pleased with this particular association as Sri Sri is someone who is not just a global spiritual leader but an epitome of goodness, kindness and peace at large. His followers and his vast organization stand testament to the fact that alternate thinking can change you, your life and your surroundings and help take you to the next level. We are proud partners in this journey with Gurudev as we aim to take his message across the globe. The Art of Living will continue to influence massive change and we will do our utmost to help deliver this across all local and global platforms.”
     
     
    Commenting on the association, Prasana Prabhu, Trustee, Sri Sri Publications Trust says, “We are extremely happy to be associated with a major record label like the Universal Music Group who will ensure that the message of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar reaches out to a global audience through their large network. With their might, we will be available widely across all digital and physical platforms thus spreading the message of living well and with peace. We look forward to working closely with Universal Music in not just releasing existing content but also in creation of fresh content from `The Art Of Living’ and present it in innovative ways to the world out there”.
     
    Also on the anvil is a prestigious Home Video release next month from Universal Music of a unique symphony – titled “Venunaad” – where 4000 flutists, will simultaneously perform on a gigantic 30,000-ft stage on 12th January, 2015 in Nasik. This performance is under the guiding baton of renowned flutist, Pt. Ronu Mazumdar, while the revered exponent of the instrument, Hariprasad Chaurasia, will be the guest of honor. The symphony is one of two major events to mark the two-day visit of The Art of Living founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, to Maharashtra.
     
    Founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, The Art of Living is one of the largest voluntary organizations in the world. Inspired by its founder’s vision of creating a stress-free mind and a violence-free society, the organization is dedicated to creating peace and fostering human values.