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Tag: MixRadio Music Connects

  • Music is a natural fit for brands

    Music is a natural fit for brands

    MUMBAI: One cannot deny the strong connection between brands and music in the ever evolving music industry. More and more labels, artists and musicians are becoming aware about brand association that could help them attain a more successful outcome. The second day of the 6th edition of MixRadio Music Connects in Mumbai had CNBC TV-18 editor storyboard Anant Rangaswami lead a panel discussion called “The brand story”. Through this panel, the audience got to learn about the importance of brands in the music ecosystem. The invited panelists included Viacom18 EVP media and business head MTV and MTV Indies Aditya Swami, Bacardi India general manager marketing Ali Imran and Vivanta by Taj GM Manojeet Bhujabal.

    The panel discussed the role of brand partnerships within the music industry. The session started with Branded co founder and CEO and Music Matters president Jasper Donat and indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO and editor in chief Anil Wanvari present an award to Imran, for Bacardi’s excellent brand association with music.

    The key point of the discussion began with understanding how brands develop their strategies when collaborating with music.

    Speaking about Taj’s music connect, Bhujabal elaborated: “Music is a primordial expression for us. Our hotels are well-known but we want to present an alternative life outside the realm of hotels.  It was tough to initially develop a notion for Vivanta.  We started on a basic level through house music. We went onto present Urban Tease, Barn Fest, Divas of Rock and Urban Folk. We also developed the Vivanta Sound Lab series and we look forward to discover emerging talents with fresh content.”

    Imran felt there is no straight substitute for music. He commented, “Music is like oxygen for us. It reaches humans in a way that probably no other passion does. For Bacardi, music is a natural fit considering what the brand stands for, its lineage of parties and celebrating the human spirit.”

    Providing his perspective as a channel head on why brands get associated with a music channel, Aditya Swami explained, “Digital has become a key part of the consumer ecosystem. It has allowed brands to talk to consumers in the language of music. We have attracted brands that want to create conversations and we have successfully done so over the years”.

    Swami added that the presentation of music is of paramount importance in the industry, today. He said, “With brands supporting us, we have managed to showcase original music in the best way possible. Today, a brand like Pepsi is a partner of MTV Indies, a dedicated destination for non-film, non-mainstream music. We have given Pepsi a great platform for people to talk about what the brand is doing for the youth. Music is the voice of youth. It’s not just TV ratings that matters now. Traditional metrics are changing and there is a need to build brand love. Platforms like music are fantastic for this”.

    Swami elaborated further that the music industry has an opportunity to develop within the area of music and brand partnerships. He said, “In the last 12 months, every interesting music idea that we have taken to the market has had at least a brand that is interested, as opposed to taking an idea of a reality show or TV soap where the market has become very saturated. Today, retail and lifestyle products are also part of the music ecosystem”.

    At this point, Rangaswami added that brands might have a set of guidelines that would help attain a more successful outcome. He asked the panel how do the brands decide what kind of music to select when working on a campaign?

    To that, Bhujabal replied: “We initially work with content partners who know the domain well. We enunciate what are the idioms and what to bring on the floor. We look at the audience and decide who we are targeting. After that, it is the job of the content creator to curate”. Bhujabal also emphasised on the importance of social media and social engagement to see how many people are engaged and liking their association with that selected genre of music.

    Ending the panel discussion with some food for thought, Swami commented:  “Today, I do not see enough brands or content players doing interesting cuts of our pop music industry. The content guys need to come up with interesting ideas and content relevant for brands around pop music industry. That is a huge space for us to tap into”.

     

  • Music streaming is gathering momentum in India, feel music experts

    Music streaming is gathering momentum in India, feel music experts

    MUMBAI: At the 6th edition of MixRadio Music Connects, one of the leading panel discussions touched on the topic of streaming music in the country. The objective behind the discussion was to find out what the future of music entailed and study the growth of music streaming in India so far.

     

    The panelists included MixRadio senior product manager Melissa Price, Believe Digital head of sales in Asia Sylvain Delange, RDIO vice president of emerging markets  Snehal Shinde, Guevera founder and director of innovation Claes Loberg and was moderated by Times Music chief operating officer Mandar Thakur.

     

    The session discussed the potential of streaming music, a way of delivering music without the need to download files of different audio formats.

     

    Thakur introduced the session by providing a background on streaming. He said, “Often music streaming is looked upon as a tremendous blessing or a mysterious key to the great digital future. But in the last decade or so, we have been losing consumers. However, there has been the emergence of many music streaming services with many different characteristics and potential.”

     

    Speaking about the different services, Shinde added his opinions on what makes RDIO stand out. He said, “We are a radio first service, so it’s all about giving users a laid-back experience and we achieve that by providing users with rich curated radio stations.  We play songs that people like to listen to.”

     

    Loberg shared his thoughts about the potential of Guvera, an Australian based music streaming service, which has officially launching in India today. “We have very innovative tools and we will make it easy for users to discover, share and manage the music they love,” he said.

     

    Price talked about the evolution of Nokia Music and said, “We had a long history in the music space. We started our transformation in 2010 when we studied the music streaming space. We focused on determining the easiest way for people to listen to music. Last year, we brought to forefront a feature of Nokia music – Play Me that is the ultimate feature in providing the laid back experience. All you have to do is open the app and it’ll keep you entertained providing your own personal radio station with just one click.”

     

    Price also added that customised meta data can help in the profiling of an artist. She said, “Good representation of the artists is important as it allows people to discover new talents and understand the existing ones. By promoting artists well, people would want to find out more about them. It increases curiosity. Things like images, biographies and Twitter handles are very important. It is important to get the meta data right in order to also know the kind of people you are connecting with to the music.”

     

    Delange, who is heading a team of 10 music label managers in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and China, gave an overview of the role of his company in achieving a key market position in Asia. He said, “It’s really about making the product available. Our main role is to deliver the content, in order to make it available and visible on all the relevant platforms. We help the artistes and labels to understand their audiences and the marketing processes. We package the best products and ensure that everything is pitch-perfect in order to get the best results”.

     

    The discussion then moved to the importance of social media in a world that that is increasingly being run by algorithms and lesser by humans.

     

     Shinde opined, “Facebook likes can be quite deceiving but social media does make content accessible to a wide range of people. The artistes themselves have to be constantly in touch with their fan base. They need to engage through their social networks.”

     

    Melissa elaborated on the importance of knowing latest trends and aliasing with bloggers to promote the content.  “You need to understand the importance of a fan base. When we deliver music, we are delivering it to the fans.  At MixRadio, we have a great team in India that keeps in touch with labels. It is important to know what is trending and what is popular,” she added. In her concluding remarks she said that they were working with significant bloggers who  recommended  the music to their fans  and as a result the number of listeners had increased.

  • Music piracy still continues to worry stakeholders

    Music piracy still continues to worry stakeholders

    MUMBAI: The 6th edition of MixRadio Music Connects (MRMC) commenced on a high note today, emerging as one of the most informative and definitive annual music ecosystem gatherings. Held at the Taj Land’s End Hotel in Bandra, the proceedings of the first day were focused on the Indian music scene and its global development as an industry along with a vast understanding of new emerging platforms for aspiring entrants. The conference was attended by top executives, creative professionals, musicians, decision-makers and company heads who contributed interesting insights about the music industry.

     

    The focus of this year’s event is to find ideas and solutions to increase monetisation and build traction for all those involved in the music business, with a special emphasis on the artiste community. Indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor in chief Anil Wanvari welcomed everyone to the conference and said, “We hope to establish new grounds in the music industry and share knowledge about the entire ecosystem.”

     

    Branded co-founder and CEO of and Music Matters president Jasper Donat welcomed everyone to the two day conclave and said that he was very excited to be in Mumbai and participate in the event. Mobilium Global CEO Ralph Simon, popularly known as the father of the ring tone, played the perfect presenter for the whole day expressing his unique understanding of Indian music and movies. He believes that the future belongs to the screenagers of India.

     

    The Indian Music Industry president Vijay Lazarus started off the conference by stating the two barriers that are obstructing the growth of the music industry and its investments. According to him, the first barrier is piracy, which affects everyone internationally. He further emphasised, “Due to advance technology, the consumption of music has also increased substantially. However, the monetisation of music for creators and entrepreneurs has gone down. This is frightening.”

     

    The second barrier that stops the growth of the music industry is the inability for the creative and the entrepreneurial fraternities to come together as one. He added, “This is very relevant for India and I am happy that this particular MRMC is dedicated to the artistes as they are the heart and soul of the industry. However, there is also the entrepreneur who is also equally involved. If both the creative and entrepreneurial fraternities come together, we could be a powerhouse and we will be able to monetise our rights”. He concluded his speech by saying that if these two factors can be overcome; there will be no growth limit for the industry.

     

    This was followed by a keynote presentation by Sony Music Entertainment India president for India and Middle East Sridhar S Subramanium. He gave an overview on the current status of our Indian music industry and he said that it is in a “healthier and profitable” position today. He spoke about the “road to a billion” phenomenon and how in a short span of five years, the industry can grow to a billion dollar industry.  He said, “We just need all the right things and get all the ingredients in place and collectively figure work together”. Subramanium highlighted that one of the biggest concerns that lies in the music industry is trying to ape the west.

     

    As part of the solutions, he suggested that the music industry should follow the TV and film industry as examples. He said, “The television industry has a huge advertising market. The music industry is effectively the same thing. People do not want to pay for music anymore. We should focus on making music free in order to curtail piracy. Just like how it happens in television, we should emphasise on getting a large addressable advertising market”.

  • MixRadio 6th Music Connects: Shaping the digital future

    MixRadio 6th Music Connects: Shaping the digital future

    MUMBAI: India’s music industry will be headed for one address come 4 and 5  November 2014 – The Taj Lands End, Bandra, Mumbai where  the 6th edition of MixRadio Music Connects (MRMC) by Music Matters and Radioandmusic.com is to be held.

     

    As with previous editions, the 6th MRMC has attracted the cr?me de la cr?me of the music ecosystem, right from streaming services to music labels to international and independent Indian music talent to mobile operators, live companies and social media agencies. The focus of the two day conclave is to find solutions to increase monetization and build traction for all those involved in the music business, with a special emphasis on the artiste community.

     

    Amongst the highlights of the 6th MRMC – which has “Shaping the Digital Future” as its theme – are keynotes by MixRadio head Jyrki Rosenberg, one on one conversations with Chrysalis Records founder Terry Ellis as well as Live Nation APAC head Alan Ridgeway,   a state of the industry overview by Sony Music India president Sridhar Subramanium, and an address by talented well-known film maker and helmer Imtiaz Ali. 

     

    All India Bakchod’s standup comic Tanmay Bhatt, world music and YouTube sensation duo Maati Baani and international cross over musicians Tomas Kantelinen and Canadian singer Natalie De Luccio – both of whom are forging a career in mainline Indian Bollywood music – are among those who will be talking about their journeys as artistes.  Additionally, SongHubs collaboration between Australian musicians and writers will be revealing what their partnership has meant and share its results.

     

     

    The representatives of the world’s leading music streaming services – MixRadio Music, Guvera, RDIO, Believe Digital, Samsung, Wynk, Gaana, will be represented on panels which seek to get insights on the current issues and the way forward for them in a world where more and more music is being consumed digitally on every device by the new-age-always-online consumer.

     

    Musicians and artistes will get an understanding of how they can establish themselves in the online and mobile universe by building, maintaining and continually engaging fans through social and digital media initiatives. Offering them advice will be executives from YouTube, Foxy Moron, WatConsult and To11 Media Inc.

     

    Brands are increasingly playing a role in music and senior managers from Unilever, Taj Hotels, Bacardi and MTV will provide a perspective on what they are doing with music and what makes brands want to invest in music initiatives.

     

    Says Rosenberg: “I’m looking forward to being in Mumbai for our 6th year as partners of MixRadio Music Connects. The music industry in India is innovative and thriving and I’m looking forward to plenty of lively debate from all the key players. MixRadio has some exciting product developments which we’ve chosen Music Connects as the place to share with the world next week.”

     

    Adds Branded and Music Matters co-founder & CEO Jasper Donat: “The 6th MixRadio Music Connects is already shaping up to be the best yet but this is only possible with the continued support and dedication MixRadio gives to the music industry in India. The music industry relies on corporate partners for growth and innovation and no other brand on the planet comes near MixRadio (and their former iteration as Nokia Music) for the support they give to the entertainment industry in the world’s second largest country.”

     

     

    “We are grateful to MixRadio for following through on its association and support with Music Connects which has become the definitive annual thought- leading get-together for the Indian music business,” says Indiantelevision.com’s radioandmusic.com founder Anil Wanvari.  “Our effort this year has been to get a greater understanding of the music streaming business story and the opportunities for musicians and artistes in the new digital universe in which they can directly build monetisable connects with their fans in the Indian and global context. Interactions between them and labels, mobile operators, live managers and other players will possibly generate some ideas to better build music’s digital future in India.”

  • Nokia Music Connects is Now MixRadio Music Connects

    Nokia Music Connects is Now MixRadio Music Connects

    MUMBAI: Nokia Music Connects, the premier Indian annual get together for music and digital business professionals is now renamed as ‘MixRadio Music Connects’

     

    While the format remains the same, the name change reflects a universal approach to the world’s simplest personalized music streaming service, and the company is excited to be title sponsors of 2014’s event.

     

    MixRadio Music Connects 2014 is scheduled to be held in Mumbai’s famed Taj Land’s End Hotel in Bandra on 4-5 November 2014.

     

    MixRadio Music Connects is once being organized by Hong Kong based event experts Branded Limited (Music Matters, YouTube FanFest) and Indiantelevision.com group’s Radionandmusic.com.  

     

    Aside from the long term, symbiotic title sponsor partnership, the conference-meets-music festival has support from the Indian Music Industry (IMI), South Indian Music Companies Association (SIMCA), IPRS, PPL, among several other industry bodies.  

     

    In attendance will be the cr?me de la cr?me of industry and trade professionals, artistes, musicians, talent managers, label and digital executives – both from India and overseas. 2013’s conference saw more than 800 industry execs benefit from two days of networking, conferencing and listening to bands and musicians.

     

    The theme of the two day conference to be held this year is “Unlocking the potential.”

     

    Says Branded CEO Jasper Donat:

     

    “We’re delighted that the original Nokia Music team that shared the vision of Music Connects five years ago are still on board for the foreseeable future. This can only help us expand the event beyond its present horizon offering attendees even more collaborative opportunities.”

     

    Says Radioandmusic.com founder, editor in chief Anil Wanvari: “There’s a new government at the Centre led by Narendra Modi and the world has taken note of it. There’s a sense of positivity in business. Already, the music industry in India – led by the major labels – has reported a healthier 2013. We can only expect things to get better from hereon in 2014 and thereafter. Several streaming services are slated to launch this year and the business will gather further momentum. We are grateful MixRadio for continuing to support the initiative organized along with Branded to help the industry to pause, reflect and understand the way forward.”

     

    Says MixRadio’s Jyrki Rosenberg, “Our long-term relationship with Music Connects continues to be very valuable in connecting MixRadio with the Indian and global music business. We have been gathering listening data in India for longer than many of our competitors, which combined with our huge local catalogue in the market allows us to deliver an incredible level of personalization to Indian customers using our personal radio service.  Streaming and downloading is set to grow rapidly in India over the next five years, so it is vital for us to be at the forefront of industry developments in order to unlock our potential in this key market”.