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Reliance Communications, Universal Music in partnership
MUMBAI: Reliance Communications today announced the signing of an exclusive strategic partnership with Universal Music to offer music-related services and content across RCOM’s GSM, CDMA, 3G Mobile and Wireless Broadband platforms.
The agreement has been signed with a commitment of substantial investments to be made by both the parties to offer 360 degree music experience to customers across all platforms including Voice, Wap, Web, IVR, Blog and through on-ground events.
Having successfully won the licence to offer 3G services in India, Reliance Communications, is readying a chest of services and applications as a prelude to the launch of its 3G services in India.
It has got the license to offer 3G services in 13 key circles including Mumbai, Delhi & Kolkata. The agreement with Universal is a prelude to RCom’s 3G launch since Music offers the potential to provide the best consumer experience on 3G network.
Universal will offer its entire catalogue of international and Indian music to RCOM. Universal’s music catalogue boasts of some of the best of Indian & western billboard artists such as Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, The Black Eyed Peas, Enrique Iglesias, Eminem and Lady Gaga.
RCOM’s agreement with Universal Music is in line with similar deals signed by the conglomerate with other global operators across the globe including with UK Orange, SingTel, Digi Malaysia, Bouygues Telecom, France Orange, Belgium Base and other Eastern European Operators.
RCom and Universal Music will also arrange concerts with Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan, Mohit Chauhan and others. The partners will also line-up international concert with contemporary pop singers currently ruling the billboard charts worldwide.
Reliance Communications president marketing – wireless business Mahesh Prasad said, “Our exclusive partnership with Universal Music is among the tie-ups crafted for our customers as part of RCOM’s 3G launch. The Universal partnership will be leveraged to launch Simply Music Initiative for our 110 million mobile customers with an all around never before music experience across multiple channels and extended to 3G customers at its launch. The Simply Music Initiative will keep the customer engaged on an ongoing basis by providing exclusive and differentiated music content.”
As part of the first consumer effort, Reliance Communications is launching Simply Music Initiative across the country. This is a holistic music pack offering services like exclusive caller tunes, ring tones, Mobile Radio Web Streaming, Full tracks etc for all Reliance customers across GSM and CDMA networks. Simply Music comprises of two unique packs – Gold and Platinum.
The Simply Music Gold Pack will comprise 3 full length track, 3 ringtone, 4 callertune and 30 minutes mobile Radio Web streaming. This pack will be available for a monthly subscription of Rs 25.
The Simply Music Platinum Pack will comprise 10 full length tracks, 10 ringtones, 10 callertunes and 100 minutes of mobile Radio Web streaming. The Platinum pack will be available for a monthly subscription of Rs 99 only.
As part of its ongoing product innovation, RCOM will make Simply Music a long term customer engagement initiative by infusing dynamic novelty in the Offering on an ongoing basis.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
