News Broadcasting
Universal’s Sanyal on Midem’s Programme selection panel
MUMBAI: Universal Music Group South Asia has announced that its managing director & CEO, – south Asia Devraj Sanyal has been named as a member of the high profile selection committee for Midem’s annual Artist Accelerator Programme.
Midem, a leading international business event for the music ecosystem hosted in Cannes, France, from June 6 – 9, recently announced 2017’s committee of distinguished experts for the programme that includes executives such as Rob Hallet, founder of Robomagic (UK), Christopher Kaskie, President of Pitchfork (USA) and Renneth Tshisikule, the founder and director of The Independent Music Exporters South Africa (IMEXSA), amongst others. The programme is designed to support managers, agents, labels and publishers as they look to grow their artists’ profiles globally.
Part of the Midem conference, the Artist Accelerator Programme affords a dynamic opportunity to promote nine upcoming international artists carefully selected by the committee. It features a range of curated networking opportunities, as well as learning and coaching sessions with key music industry leaders from around the world. The nine finalists will also have the chance to perform live at Midem and have a song featured in Midem’s audio-visual communications, as well as placement on the official Midem 2017 compilation vinyl.
Of the appointment, Sanyal said: “I’m extremely proud to be part of the committee for the 2017 Midem Artist Accelerator Programme. In India and around the world, the music industry is immensely vibrant, just phenomenally creative and innovative at present and I’m thrilled that remarkable artists from all corners can participate in this programme and get a chance to showcase their talent on a platform as prominent as Midem.”
2017 Midem Artist Accelerator Committee are:
· Christian Bernhardt, Agent, United Talent Agency (USA)
· Willy Ehmann, SVP Domestic GSA, Sony Music Entertainment (Germany);
· Rob Hallett, Founder, Robomagic (UK);
· Christopher Kaskie, President, Pitchfork (USA);
· Yoon-Young Kong (Dalse), Founder & Executive Producer, Zandari Culture Company (South Korea);
· Patrik Larsson, A&R and Label Manager, Playground Music Scandinavia (Sweden);
· Laurence Muller, Founder & Managing Director, Snoot (France);
· Devraj Sanyal, Managing Director & CEO, Universal Music Group South Asia / EMI Music South Asia / Enchanted Valley Carnival (India);
· Renneth Tshisikule, Founder & Director, The Independent Music Exporters (South Africa);
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News Broadcasting
Senior media executive Madhu Soman exits Zee Media
Former Reuters and Bloomberg leader says he leaves with “no regrets” after brief stint at WION and Zee Business
NOIDA: Madhu Soman, a veteran of global newsrooms and media sales floors, has stepped away from Zee Media Corporation after a short stint steering business strategy for WION and Zee Business.
In a reflective LinkedIn note marking his departure, Soman said his time within the network’s corridors was always likely to be brief. “Some chapters close faster than expected,” he wrote, signalling the end of a nearly two-year spell in which he oversaw both editorial partnerships and commercial strategy.
Soman joined Zee Media in 2022 after more than a decade abroad with Reuters and Bloomberg, returning to India to take on the role of chief business officer for WION and Zee Business. His mandate was ambitious: bridge the newsroom and the revenue desk while expanding digital and broadcast reach.
During the stint, Zee Business reached break-even for the first time since its launch in 2005, while WION refreshed programming and strengthened its digital footprint across platforms such as YouTube and Facebook.
But Soman suggested the cultural fit proved uneasy. Describing himself as a “cultural misfit”, he hinted at deeper tensions between editorial instincts shaped in global newsrooms and the realities of India’s television news ecosystem.
Before joining Zee, Soman spent more than seven years at Bloomberg in Hong Kong as head of broadcast sales for Asia-Pacific, expanding the company’s news syndication business across several markets. Earlier, he held senior editorial roles at Reuters, overseeing online strategy in India and managing Reuters Video Services from London.
His career began in television and wire reporting, including a stint with ANI during the 1999 Kargil conflict, before moving into digital publishing as India’s internet media landscape took shape.
Now, after nearly three decades in broadcast and digital media, Soman is leaving Delhi NCR and returning to his hometown, Trivandrum.
Exhausted, he admits. But unbowed. And with one quiet line that sums up the journey: he didn’t sell his soul — because some things, after all, are not for sale.
