Devraj Sanyal marks fifteen years at Universal Music, and he is not done yet

MUMBAI: Fifteen years in, and Devraj Sanyal is still talking about the journey rather than the trophy cabinet. The chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Music Group’s India and South Asia business, who also serves as senior vice president of strategy for the company’s Africa, Middle East and Asia region, marked the anniversary this week with a reflection that read less like a victory lap and more like a thank-you note to everyone who helped him get there.

Sanyal’s mandate at Universal has always been bigger than one market. Over three decades in music, media, live entertainment, brands, fashion and experiential marketing, he has built businesses sitting at the intersection of creativity and commercial scale, work that industry recognition has not been shy about acknowledging. He has featured on Billboard’s Global Power Player lists, picked up Clio honours, carries Grammy-nominated producer credits, and sits on the boards of several of India’s music rights and industry bodies.

His current brief is squarely about turning growth markets into genuine global engines for the business. Recorded music, artist development, catalogue, live entertainment, merchandising, branded solutions, wellness music, strategic partnerships, rights and industry governance all sit under that umbrella, with India, South Asia and the wider AMEA region positioned as the next big frontier for where the industry’s money and attention are headed.

But the anniversary post itself stayed personal rather than promotional. Sanyal described fifteen years that he does not measure in milestones so much as in people, the ones who believed, supported, challenged and stood by him through every high and every low along the way. He spoke of huge wins sitting alongside painful losses, and moments of celebration shadowed by uncertainty, the kind of decade and a half that only adds up to something in hindsight.

He thanked Universal’s global leadership, his fellow market leaders, the artists, managers, societies, brands, partners and platforms who shaped the business alongside him, and singled out his colleagues across India, South Asia and AMEA for bringing passion and commitment to what he called a shared vision. Nothing built, he said, was ever a solo effort. His family, he added, had been the spine behind it all, absorbing the late nights, the relentless travel and the general chaos that comes with a career built on the road.

Fifteen years on, the message landed less as a milestone announcement and more as a statement of intent. Sanyal made clear the story is far from finished, India’s music industry is still being written, and by his own account, he intends to keep holding the pen.