iWorld
SPI International and DocuBay announces content distribution partnership
MUMBAI: SPI International has announced a license agreement with DocuBay, the international membership VOD streaming service dedicated to premium documentary feature films. The license deal includes seven of SPI International’s visually groundbreaking and insightful premium titles such as Turandot, Small Cams – Big Beasts, Time Hopper, Eye to Eye with Everest: Death on a Mountain, Invisible Wildlife Photographer, Riders in the Land of the Setting Sun, and Rwanda 17. All films are now available to stream in 180+ countries on the DocuBay app and website.
“SPI International brings together international documentaries of the highest quality with world-class partners. We deliver the award-winning, premium documentaries that our global audience expects from us, every day,” said SPI International content sales head Hubert Ornass-Kubacki. “It is very exciting to share that our first distribution agreement with DocuBay includes seven of our best documentaries and that both parties are eager to keep growing this partnership for many years to come” continued Ornass-Kubacki.
“SPI International’s tremendous catalogue of exceptional content is right in line with DocuBay’s mission of providing viewers with the best in independent feature documentary films,” said DocuBay COO Akul Tripathi. “With DocuBay now available to a global audience, we look forward to growing our community of documentary film fans through strategic partnerships with premium content distributors such as SPI International” continued Tripathi.
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.
