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Tag: Saavn

  • DreamWorks & Technicolor’s VoD platform to offer Bollywood fare

    DreamWorks & Technicolor’s VoD platform to offer Bollywood fare

    MUMBAI: DreamWorks Animation and Technicolor’s video on demand (VOD) JV company M-GO has launched its Bollywood collection comprising a slate of more than two dozen films.

     

    The library of titles, presented in association with Indian film distributor FilmKaravan, features the 2015 release Ek Paheli Leela, starring Sunny Leone.

     

    The reincarnation-themed Ek Paheli Leela, produced by T-Series and distributed by Saavn in North America, is part of an initial assortment of more than two dozen feature Bollywood titles now offered on M-GO, with some available in 4K.

     

    “I am so excited that my fans will now be able to watch Ek Paheli Leela on their favorite digital platforms. I believe in the power of the digital ecosystem and am thrilled that my film will now be available for my fans to watch when they want,” said Leone.

     

    T-Series president Neeraj Kalyan added, “We are proud to be a part of this digital release for our latest title, Ek Paheli Leela on M-GO. Sunny has done an exceptional job and we are glad that this film is the centerpiece of the Indian film category.”

     

    “This partnership with FilmKaravan represents our first concentrated effort to bring even greater variety to our selection of international, foreign language, and independent content. In the increasingly global film community, Bollywood content is incredibly popular with movie fans all over the world, including here in the US,” said M-GO senior vice president of content Cameron Douglas.

     

    “FilmKaravan’s goal is to bring the best of Indian content produced by big studios like Yash Raj Films, Dharma Productions, Excel Entertainment, T-Series and Rajshri, among others, to platforms committed to presenting eclectic programming to their audiences. It gives us great pleasure in partnering with M-GO, one of the fastest growing VOD services, to reach their audiences through aggressive positioning and passionate marketing plans,” said FilmKaravan managing partner Pooja Kohli.

  • Mindshare bags e-commerce & digital biz worth Rs 700+ crore in 2015

    Mindshare bags e-commerce & digital biz worth Rs 700+ crore in 2015

    MUMBAI: GroupM’s Mindshare India has won several new accounts in the first four months of 2015, predominantly in the ecommerce and digital industries.

     

    The account wins amount to over Rs 700 crore in new business for the agency. The new accounts include the digital mandate for Snapdeal, media mandate for PayU, Saavn, Practo, Housing.com, NewsHunt, Novi Digital Entertainment and TTK Skore to name a few.

     

    Saavn co-founder and executive chairman Paramdeep Singh said, “As a category leader in the music streaming space, Saavn was looking for a befitting partner, who could leverage learnings from their vast portfolio of brands and combine proprietary tools that can help optimize media spends. The Mindshare team has exceptional experience in strategic and dynamic planning which is the need of the hour and we believe this association will help Saavn achieve our business ambitions.”

     

    PayU CEO Nitin Gupta said, “In Mindshare we find a partner that not only understands the emerging digital economy in India, but has the insights, expertise and commitment to help us become a world class brand.”

     

    Speaking on the new account wins, Mindshare South Asia CEO Prasanth Kumar, who took on the mantle in March this year, added, “We begin 2015 on a very promising note as Mindshare consolidates its leadership position in the market by adding several blue-chip clients especially in the ecommerce and digital industry. We are channelizing our services and talent towards frameworks and tools that include adaptive and real- time marketing, giving our clients the edge in an ever evolving media market- The Loop at Mindshare is one such example. Mindshare also includes a full service digital and social media agency to ensure seamless planning across all media for brand campaigns.”

  • Saavn hires Mahesh Narayanan as global COO

    Saavn hires Mahesh Narayanan as global COO

    MUMBAI: Indian music streaming service Saavn is kicking off 2015 with a new appointment. The company has appointed Mahesh Narayanan as its global chief operating officer.

     

    Based out of Mumbai, Narayanan will oversee numerous functions of the company to encourage growth and support Saavn’s expansion in 2015. 

     

    Narayanan, who brings a decade of digital experience to Saavn, most recently led the India operations for German display advertising company, Sociomantic, which was acquired by Dunnhumby in April 2014, less than a year after he helped launch the company’s Mumbai-based operations.

     

    Prior to that he played a major role in planting the seeds of growth for Google India. He was the founding member of Google’s Direct Sales Operations in 2005, before joining the leadership team of mobile advertising network, AdMob. Following Google’s acquisition of AdMob in 2010, Narayanan returned to Google as mobile head for India.

     

    “Mahesh is an elite executive who is recognized as one of the top digital leaders in the world and brings a bright, uniquely experienced perspective to Saavn. He’ll be involved in 360 degrees of the company to help make everyone better and bring us into the next chapter of growth and revenue. We’re honored to have Mahesh on board, and he has already made a tremendous impact on the organization in his first few weeks with us. Businesses are built off great people. Mahesh is one of the best,” said Saavn co-founder and CEO Rishi Malhotra.

     

    “I am most passionate about digital technology and music. Saavn represents my vision of the ideal blend of both passions most aptly. I’ve had the opportunity to help many leading global technology media companies achieve success, and I genuinely believe that Saavn is primed for the same caliber of success. I am really excited about partnering with Rishi and the leadership team to take Saavn to a whole new league,” added Narayanan.

     

    Narayanan joins Saavn as the company enters its most significant phase of growth. In addition to crossing user thresholds (30 million unique users in 2014; 11 million monthly streaming users), Saavn is announcing several major milestones, including:

     

    1) Entering the 10-50 million downloads tier on Android, making it the most downloaded Indian music service in Google Play (International).  

    2) 6x increase in Saavn Pro subscribers from Q1 2014.

    3) 3x increase in streaming volume from Q1 2014.

    4) Approaching 200 million streams per month.

    5) 90% of users are on mobile.

     

    Saavn closed 2014 with partnerships with companies like Twitter, T-Mobile and Snapdeal, an industry-first content initiative with Sony Music, and a year-end infographic celebrating Saavn’s most active cities and users.

     

  • Saavn and Twitter create tweet-powered internet radio station

    Saavn and Twitter create tweet-powered internet radio station

    NEW DELHI: Digital streaming service Saavn has launched @SaavnRadio in collaboration with Twitter India.

     
    The new station, available for streaming globally on Saavn Radio, is the first in a series of upcoming social media and sharing integrations for Saavn. The partnership reflects Twitter’s continued efforts to create opportunities for artists on Twitter to be discovered, as well as to surface amazing music content that fans in India and around the world can enjoy.

     
    The @SaavnRadio lineup will be curated via interactions between Saavn users and Twitter, and will refresh every few minutes.

     
    To directly influence the station’s programming, users worldwide can tweet @SaavnRadio to request a song from Saavn’s robust catalog of Indian music. In India, users can request tracks from English-language artists, as well. The station will also update based on Saavn users’ shared listening activity on Twitter. Explicit requests will be prioritized over shared songs in each refresh interval.

     
    Saavn co-founder and CEO Rishi Malhotra said, “Social is more than a feature, it’s part of the DNA of streaming music, so this is an extremely powerful partnership for us. Our listeners regularly tweet their Saavn activity and playlists. We worked with the great team at Twitter to develop the user-generated radio station, completely driven by real time activity across the globe.  We’ve always pushed the limits to deliver a great product experience to millions of users daily, so we’re truly honored to be the company that’s delivering this experience with Twitter.”

     
    The technical integration will include a Twitter handle to confirm user requests.  Users will also receive a @mention alert when their requests are played.

     
    “Twitter always has and will continue to encourage innovation in the way the world experiences music. Saavn is the perfect company to work with as we look to contribute to music accessibility and music discovery for our international users, particularly in the Asian market, in an age where social sharing has no borders,” said Twitter business development India and south east Asia director Arvinder Gujral.

     

  • Shemaroo Entertainment extends deal with The Orchard

    Shemaroo Entertainment extends deal with The Orchard

    MUMBAI: Shemaroo Entertainment has announced the extension of its alliance with the international distributor of digital content, The Orchard, for the distribution and marketing of Shemaroo’s music catalogue on iTunes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

    Earlier this year, Shemaroo had entered into a strategic alliance with The Orchard to distribute its music content in Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. This enabled them to utilise Shemaroo’s music catalogue on more than 100 international digital platforms like iTunes, Spotify, Rhapsody, eMusic, Virgin FR, Amazon Digital Services Inc, Xbox Music, rDio, MediaNet, etc. The vast repertoire of audio includes film, non-film across multiple genre like folk, pop, sufi, qawwalis, kid’s music and regional music.

    With this initiative, Indians living outside the country will no longer miss the desi (Indian) music. They can also enjoy a variety of regional music in more than 22 languages including Punjabi, Marathi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Bengali among others that are available on these platforms. Shemaroo Entertainment has been working with leading online streaming platforms in India like Saavn, Gaana, Hungama, Nokia MixRadio, etc to distribute content.

    Shemaroo Entertainment director Jai Maroo said, “Shemaroo has already been distributing its vast music catalog directly in India through all the telecom operators and music streaming services. For Global distribution of our content, we have already entered into a strategic alliance with The Orchard earlier this year. We are pleased to extend this partnership with the company to distribute our content on iTunes in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The development will empower audience from MENA with a variety of content across different genres.”

    “Shemaroo’s vibrant catalogue of Indian music is already available to consumers worldwide through our international network of digital retail outlets. This amendment will help us serve Shemaroo’s content in MENA also now. We look forward to a creative and inventive partnership with Shemaroo, given their foundation as an early adopter of digital media,” added The Orchard director South Asia, Clint Cabral.

     

  • Ranbir Kapoor now a creative collaborator

    Ranbir Kapoor now a creative collaborator

    MUMBAI: Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor has now joined hands with Saavn (South Asia Audio Video Network), a US-based digital music company as its creative collaborator. The association was announced at the online music streaming press conference, which was attended by India’s top music industry executives and influencers.

    The superstar, as part of the association will work with the Saavn team on consumer marketing ideation and production, business development and content.

    Talking about the partnership Kapoor said, “I’ve been using Saavn for years now, so it’s exciting to be working with the team on a deeper level. I’ll be helping to guide the brand, influence programming, connect with the next generation of music listeners and ultimately help build the best music product in India and potentially the world.”

    “I look forward to being involved in a more business-centric capacity in the near future,” he added.

    The partnership has initially materialised in the form of a new commercial campaign featuring a 30 second television spot. Kapoor provided a significant amount of input on the creative for the campaign. The TV commercial was written by Vasan Bala, who is the screenwriter for Kapoor’s new film, Bombay Velvet, alongside Sneha Mehta and Teddy Stern of Saavn and has been produced by Golden Gaddi Films, the ad production house of Guneet Monga who is the producer of The Lunchbox.

    Saavn released a sneak-peek of its alliance with Kapoor in its “Here’s to the Music” campaign that went live earlier this year.

    Click here to watch the video

    Saavn executive chairman Paramdeep Singh said, “It felt right from the beginning. Our collaboration with Ranbir represents an evolution in the way technology companies and artists work together in India. And that bridge between art and digital is at the very heart of what we want to accomplish at Saavn.”

    The digital music company, which claims a catalog of almost two million tracks from both Indian and US record labels, will be rolling out a suite of new consumer-facing products and partnerships over the next couple of months.

  • Fortis brings ‘Mumbai ki Dhadkan’ on World Heart Day

    Fortis brings ‘Mumbai ki Dhadkan’ on World Heart Day

    MUMBAI: Fortis Healthcare Limited (Fortis), one of India’s largest private healthcare chains, dedicated the anthem Mumbai Ki Dhadkan, to the spirit of the Mumbaikars in tackling heart disease. The anthem has been specially created for Fortis by renowned singer-composer and guitarist Lesle Lewis on the occasion of World Heart day.

    Mumbai ki Dhadkan – urges people to adopt a healthier lifestyle for a trouble free heart. The anthem will be promoted in Mumbai through several platforms and will be available for download on the microsite – www.mumbaikidhadkan.in. It will also be accessible on Saavn, YouTube and Facebook. In addition, Mumbai Ki Dhadkan CD’s will also be distributed free in colleges, gyms and clubs.

    Fortis will organise a ‘World Heart Concert’ on 29 September on the occasion of the World Heart Day. Lesle Lewis will perform the Anthem live at the MMRDA grounds. Along with Lesle, 10-12 youth bands will also render their own compositions in support of the initiative. The youth bands are being chosen from college-wide promotions that Fortis is currently organising.

    Fortis Healthcare regional director – east and west Varun Khanna said, “Music holds a special place in the hearts of people. We hope our musical anthem will serve as a powerful reminder for everyone to wake up to a healthy heart every day of the week. Using youth as the core of our initiative and with the help of colleges in Mumbai, we will hold awareness programs, conduct CPR training sessions and free cardiac check-up camps at all Fortis hospitals in Mumbai and Rotary Clubs over the next month. We hope our initiatives will not only motivate people to live a healthy lifestyle but will also equip them to handle emergency situations to save valuable lives.”

    Notably, studies show that people though aware of heart attack as a deadly disease end up ignoring early diagnoses. More than 80 per cent of heart attacks turn fatal because patients do not receive immediate attention following visible signs of a heart attack. This raises the importance of medical help within the “Golden Hour” or the crucial sixty minutes following the first symptom that an attack is in progress.
    Lesle Lewis said, “The connection between music and the heart is eternal. It gave me great pleasure to create the music that hopefully will make people listen to their hearts. I hope this unique initiative by Fortis Hospitals will strike the right chord with Mumbaikars in this drive to promote a healthy heart.”

  • Saavn draws up marketing campaign to promote Tata Docomo music driven data plan

    Saavn draws up marketing campaign to promote Tata Docomo music driven data plan

    NEW DELHI: Leading Bolywood and south Asian music service Saavn is stepping it up in India. The company has rolled out a pop culture marketing campaign to complement its recent data partnership with Tata Docomo.

    Docomo‘s target audience in India comprised more than 80 per cent youth, resulting in a conscious effort to roll out a marketing campaign featuring American artistes Justin Timberlake‘s and Daft Punk‘s music. Saavn and Docomo have made a joint initiative to run the campaign aimed at increasing awareness levels through various touch points. The campaign will include TV, in-store, social and a massive SMS marketing program.

    The marketing drive is an extension of a deal between Saavn and Docomo that kicked off earlier this month, bringing Indian mobile users a music-integrated data plan for the first time ever.

    Docomo‘s subscribers will now have access to Saavn’s catalog of 1.1 million songs via a special stream-anywhere data plan – no WiFi necessary. Three monthly plans are available for Docomo’s GSP prepay customers: 500 minutes, 1000 minutes and 2000 minutes.

    Both companies believe the campaign and new data service will create more value for Indian consumers to adopt smartphone data services while enjoying free social music services.

    With 700 million mobile users, India boasts one of the largest mobile phone user bases in the world. This partnership marks the first-ever streaming music and carrier deal in India following a global trend of similar deals in America, Brazil, Scandanavia and France. Slacker and Muve recently teamed with carriers in the US., and Spotify and Deezer have launched similar programs in Scandanavia and France respectively.

    “In India, consumers need an emotional reason to purchase data plans – music is the answer,” says Saavn co-founder and MD Paramdeep Singh. “The combination of Docomo‘s stellar reputation as a carrier, our vast Indian music catalog, and the appeal of global pop brands like Justin Timberlake, Daft Punk, Pink, Michael Jackson and Rihanna will only amplify the benefits of a worldwide shift in the way mobile users consume data.”

    Content-integrated data plans are emerging as a three-way win: content providers can win millions of users out of the deal, carriers further substantiate data packages and open themselves up to a mobile advertising market worth billions of dollars, while consumers retain the freedom to consume data without being penalized.

    Saavn is already credited for driving 5 per cent of data consumed in India, which is 15 times the amount of data driven by other Indian music providers. The marketing campaign is currently live in India.

  • Saavn launches Impact advertising platform in India

    Saavn launches Impact advertising platform in India

    MUMBAI: Indian music service provider South Asian Audio Video Network (Saavn) has launched its new advertisement platform named Impact. This platform will enable brands to identify, connect and engage with its 10.5 million users in India and across the globe.

    Impact’s approach to digital and mobile advertising aims at giving brands 100 per cent share-of-voice. Using Impact, brands get exclusive access to all advertisement units on the Saavn web site and mobile apps for a set time period. These include Custom Skin, Web Display, Web Audio, Mobile Spotlight, Mobile Display, and Mobile Audio. The impact model allows brands to build positive associations with their products and services through music. The model has proven to create strong brand awareness, shape brand preferences and increase purchase consideration through undivided mindshare of listeners of Saavn across platforms.

    Saavn co-founder and CEO Vinodh Bhat said, “In India, we all know that music plays an integral and meaningful part in every individual’s life. IMPACT is a powerful solution that enables the advertisers to build an emotional connection with their target audience during a passionate, social and engaging musical experience. The Saavn IMPACT model is based around engagement, curation and social sharing rather than the archaic click-through. Brands are able to measure ROI in meaningful ways, such as increases in perception, awareness, recall and purchase intent. The by-product of our strong focus on the consumer experience is helping brands grow their businesses.”
     
    Some brands utilizing Saavn to reach million of engaged users in India include Samsung, Lay’s, Pantene, Pepsi, Nokia, Vodafone, Airtel, Hyundai, Domino’s Pizza, 7Up, Nielsen, MakeMyTrip, Max NewYork Life, Google Plus, Nokia, Vanish, Groupon, Intel and several others.

    In addition to its popular web, iOS, Android and J2ME apps, Saavn is currently developing its popular music product for launch on Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile platforms.