Event Coverage
MixRadio announces next generation of music personalization
Mumbai: : MixRadio today chose the MixRadio Music Connects event in Mumbai for the global launch announcement of its new natively built recommendation engine. The new dynamic personalization engine is developed specifically to best deliver its one touch ‘Play Me’ personalized radio experience for a global audience.
Over the past 5 years, MixRadio has supplied a legitimate digital music service to over 20 million users in India. Recent research by MixRadio has revealed that mobile music streaming in India will continue grow by a massive 110% in the next four years, meaning 1 in 15 mobile music streamers globally will be in India. The research showed that personal radio will dominate this growth, and having existing data and preferences for millions of users already, MixRadio’s new personalization engine will deliver a new level of experience for Indian listeners.
The new engine curates a greater breadth of music in a more highly personalized way than ever before. It uses billions of data points from millions of consumers around the world, and uses them to deliver a completely relevant and unique listening experience. Listeners are delivered tracks from deeper into the catalogues of the artists they love, facilitating rediscovery of forgotten favourites alongside discovery of new artists. The new engine evolves the ‘Play Me’ feature of MixRadio to be an even more personal, even more effortless experience.
Jyrki Rosenberg, Head of MixRadio, comments “The challenge our development team have faced is curating overwhelming large catalogue of music, 34 million tracks, for a single listener in a way which is completely relevant and personal. Our promise to listeners is to provide their own personal radio station at the touch of a single button, and the new engine lets us truly deliver on that promise”.
The new engine has been in development and evolution since 2010, MixRadio has been moving listeners to the new recommendation engine over the past months, completing the shift today. Initial reports show the new engine is improving retention and engagement with the service.
Karan Grover, Head of Entertainment for IMEA at MixRadio, adds “This is a break though for Indian music fans in terms of how they enjoy music. The new personalization engine will allow us to build on our heritage in this market and make even better use of our huge breadth of regional music. We have been collecting data points on that music for many years, allowing us to serve up that music accurately to the people who will love it. We filter our recommendation of songs by language and our metadata takes into account not just the singer but the composers, actors and directors associated with a particular song, ultimately allowing us to deliver a richer personalization experience.
We are confident that creating the best possible personalized music streaming experience is the most effective business model we could adopt. If people are loving their listening experience, they are going to listen to more music for longer, which is good news for everyone. This combined with the knowledge we have built up around customizing our offerings to local markets in terms of delivering the right price points and billing options, means we are in a strong position to build on the head start we have in India and flourish in the coming years.”
Event Coverage
Anime India announces Amazon MX Player as co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata 2026
MUMBAI: Riding high on the success of its blockbuster Mumbai debut, Anime India is accelerating its nationwide expansion with the announcement of Amazon MX Player as the co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata. The partnership marks a significant step forward in the festival’s mission to deliver large-scale, accessible, and fan-first anime experiences across the country.
Scheduled for 14 and 15 February 2026 at the iconic Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Anime India Kolkata will launch the first regional chapter of what is set to be a year-long, multi-city tour. As the curtain-raiser for the 2026 circuit, the Kolkata edition aims to fuse the energy of global Japanese pop culture with India’s fast-growing community of anime, manga, and pop-culture fans.
A household name in digital entertainment, Amazon MX Player brings unmatched reach and cultural relevance to the Anime India platform. With its expanding focus on anime and youth-driven content, Amazon MX Player’s involvement as co-presenting partner reinforces Anime India’s vision of making anime culture more inclusive breaking barriers of language, geography, and accessibility to connect with fans nationwide.
Anime India Kolkata 2026 will showcase cosplay competitions, interactive zones led by the Indian Gunpla Community, India-39 Vocaloid Community, The Japan Curry, and Adda-o-Otaku by The Otaku Guild. Fans can join tournaments across fighting games, Pokémon VGC, and more. Acclaimed Japanese director Susumu Mitsunaka (Haikyu!!) will attend as guest of honour, appearing in panels and live sessions. Positioned as an immersive celebration of fan culture and industry collaboration, the Kolkata edition marks the beginning of Anime India’s nationwide expansion.
Sharing their perspective on the partnership, Amazon MX Player director Aruna Daryanani expressed, “Anime in India has evolved from a niche interest into a mainstream cultural movement, driven by an increasingly engaged and passionate fanbase. At Amazon MX Player, our focus is on expanding access by bringing anime to audiences across the country for free and in multiple local languages. Our association with Anime India reflects our commitment to supporting the growth of anime in India and deepening connections with fans, while continuing to build Amazon MX Player as a trusted destination for free, high-quality entertainment.”
“Anime India Kolkata is a celebration of how anime has grown beyond entertainment into a powerful cultural and creative force. By bringing fans, creators, and industry leaders onto one shared platform, the festival is helping define the future of pop culture in India,” said Anime India co-founder and director Neha Mehta.
The debut edition of Anime India 2025 in Mumbai attracted over 29,000 fans, quickly cementing its status as a landmark celebration of anime and Japanese pop culture. Riding on this overwhelming response, the Kolkata chapter is projected to draw more than 40,000 visitors across two days, positioning it as one of the biggest anime conventions ever held in eastern India.
Anime India is focused on bringing together fans from across the country to create a truly pan-India celebration of anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, and Japanese culture. With plans to expand into four key metropolitan hubs in 2026—east (Kolkata), north (Delhi), west (Mumbai), and south (Hyderabad)—the festival seeks to deliver globally benchmarked experiences while supporting and uplifting creators, artists, and fan communities throughout India.
