iWorld
Government to launch centralised digital music licensing registry within two months
NEW DELHI: India’s information and broadcasting ministry will roll out a centralised digital music licensing registry by October 2025, in partnership with rights societies, as part of a wider push to unlock the country’s live entertainment sector.
The decision was sealed at the inaugural meeting of the joint working group (JWG) on promoting live events, chaired on 26 August at the National Media Centre by Sanjay Jaju, secretary in the information and broadcasting ministry.
Officials from the ministries of culture, youth affairs and sports, skill development, finance and DPIIT joined, alongside the Sports Authority of India and state governments from Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. Industry bodies Ficci, CII, Eema and Ilea sat across the table from companies including BookMyShow, Wizcraft, Saregama, District by Zomato and Touchwood Entertainment. Rights societies IPRS, PPL, RMPL and IMI Trust were also present.
Key outcomes included integrating live-event approvals into the India Cine Hub portal to cut red tape, drafting a model policy for multi-use of stadiums and public spaces, and embedding live-entertainment skills in the national skills framework. Financial incentives—from GST rebates and blended finance to subsidies and MSME recognition—were also discussed.
Prime minister Narendra Modi has recently described live entertainment as an engine for jobs, tourism and cultural influence. The sector was worth Rs 20,861 crore in 2024 and is growing at 15 per cent annually, buoyed by demand in tier-one and tier-two cities and a rising appetite for music tourism.
Jaju said the government’s target is to place India among the world’s top five live-entertainment destinations by 2030, with potential to create 15–20m jobs. “The JWG will work to harness the concert economy as a driver of infrastructure growth, employment, tourism and soft power,” he said.
The JWG was formed in July on the orders of union I&B minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. It will meet regularly to review progress and feed policy recommendations, building on the white paper India’s Live Events Economy: A Strategic Growth Imperative unveiled at the Waves 2025 summit.
iWorld
Anirudh Ravichander and Universal Music India join forces to take South India’s sound to the world
The composer behind 13 billion streams launches Albuquerque Records with UMI as its exclusive global partner
MUMBAI: Universal Music India has struck an exclusive partnership with Albuquerque Records, the freshly minted independent label of singer-composer Anirudh Ravichander, in a deal that bets big on South India’s booming pop and hip-hop scene going global.
The arrangement, announced on 17 March, will see Universal Music India handle future pop and hip-hop releases by Anirudh himself, as well as artists signed to the new label. A first release is already in the pipeline for April, featuring Anirudh.
The numbers behind the man are hard to ignore. Debuting in 2012 with the viral sensation “Why This Kolaveri Di”, Anirudh has since clocked over 13 billion audio streams across more than 770 tracks, cementing his position as the No.1 South Indian artist on Spotify by total streams. His fingerprints are all over some of the Tamil film industry’s biggest musical moments, from Hukum and Vaathi Coming to Arabic Kuthu and the A23 Theme.
But Albuquerque Records is a different beast. Built for the non-film space, it is designed to nurture independent talent and champion the next wave of Indian pop voices. “Universal Music India’s leadership in pop and hip-hop made them the natural partner,” said Anirudh. “I’m excited to take independent voices to audiences around the world.”
Universal Music India’s chairman and CEO Devraj Sanyal was equally effusive. “Anirudh represents the future of Indian music, bold, original, and with enormous potential,” he said. “Identifying transformative talent is our superpower, and this partnership reflects that belief.”
Sanujeet Bhujabal, managing director of Universal Music India, framed the deal as more than a distribution play. “Albuquerque Records represents Anirudh’s bold artistic vision in the world of pop and hip-hop,” he said. “True to his legacy of innovation, this partnership is set to establish yet another landmark creative space, this time for the emerging world of iPop and beyond.”
For Universal Music India, the deal deepens a long-running push into South India’s four key language markets: Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu. The label already has regional imprints, film partnerships with Maddock Films and Excel Entertainment, and a growing non-film roster. Landing Anirudh, arguably the south’s most bankable music brand, is a statement of intent. South Indian music has the streams. Now it is coming for the world.
