iWorld
YouTube FanFest returns with AIB, Abish Mathew & Vidya Vox
MUMBAI: Shout out to all the YouTubers in town. Mumbai, the city of dreams, is all set to host the fourth YouTube FanFest on 24 March. The event will take place at JioGarden, Bandra Kurla Complex. Every year, YouTube brings together top YouTubers from around the globe for a live performance and fans get to meet their favourite YouTube stars.
Additionally, the event will also be live-streamed on YouTube.
This time, the festival will feature artists from different including dance, music, comedy, etc. The line-up includes Abish Mathew, AIB, Being Indian’s Sahil Khattar, Bhuvan Bam, Carryminati, Caspar Lee, Darshan Raval, Girliyapa, Kenny Sebastian, Kurt Hugo Schneider, Melvin Louis, Mumbiker Nikhil, Nazar Battu Productions, Sam Tsui, Screen Patti, Shirley Setia, Siddarth Slathia, SnG Comedy, Tanner Patrick, Vidya Vox and Zakir Khan to name a few.
YouTube Asia Pacific director of online partner development David Powell asserted that the festival has turned out to be a marquee event to celebrate YouTube creators from India and around the world.
More than 5,000 fans are expected to witness the show which will have the biggest YouTube stars performing live on-stage.
The event will open with the Red Carpet session after which Meet and Greet pass holders can interact with their YouTube idols followed by the live show.
The tickets for the YouTube FanFest 2017 will be available from 3 pm on 24 February at the official YouTube FanFest website.
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.
