Event Coverage
Participation at Reed Midem up five per cent this year
CANNES: The silence is deafening. Five days of hustle bustle schmoozing and listening to samplers, digital download debates, and new album releases, live music showcases and the future of music, and suddenly the Palais des Festivals is all quiet. Exhibitors are packing up their booths and getting ready to have a quiet evening or take the shuttles back to Nice airport to catch their much welcome flights back home.
All round, the comments from participants, exhibitors and Reed Midem are that Midem was an okay market this year. Many deals were done, licensing, publishing, sub licensing, distribution, and what have you. According to Reed Midem officials numbers on almost every front – participation, exhibition, number of countries – were up five per cent.
The single bright spot as far as India is concerned was the Times of India stand in row 16:01. At almost any time of the day, it was packed with distributors, licensors, publishers. Times Music boss Arun Arora, and manager Suresh, and a team of almost five other Times Music professionals were busy. Says Arora: “We have been coming here for almost seven years now. And Midem is a very useful market for us. It helps us build our brand internationally. We are growing gradually. Last year we paid almost 300,000 dollars in license fees to foreign labels.”
The other bright spot was the presence of Saregama’s Atul Churamanai, Amarpal Singh and big boss Dilip Mehta’s presence on a panel discussion relating to digital downloads where he got the audience’s attention when he said that we should get swept away by digital downloads. A lot of effort is needed to make digital downloads of music a success.
Music Today head Gurmeet Singh was pleased with the market. He said: “It’s been a very productive Midem for my firm.”
The sore part was the absence of a large presence from India in a market where even Netherlands attracts around 140 music industry professionals, China about 40 participants, Australia about 40. Their rationale: propagate Indian culture globally.
Clearly, the Indian music industry and the government have to put their heads together to see merit in this line of thought.
Event Coverage
Anime India announces Amazon MX Player as co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata 2026
MUMBAI: Riding high on the success of its blockbuster Mumbai debut, Anime India is accelerating its nationwide expansion with the announcement of Amazon MX Player as the co-presenting partner for Anime India Kolkata. The partnership marks a significant step forward in the festival’s mission to deliver large-scale, accessible, and fan-first anime experiences across the country.
Scheduled for 14 and 15 February 2026 at the iconic Biswa Bangla Mela Prangan, Anime India Kolkata will launch the first regional chapter of what is set to be a year-long, multi-city tour. As the curtain-raiser for the 2026 circuit, the Kolkata edition aims to fuse the energy of global Japanese pop culture with India’s fast-growing community of anime, manga, and pop-culture fans.
A household name in digital entertainment, Amazon MX Player brings unmatched reach and cultural relevance to the Anime India platform. With its expanding focus on anime and youth-driven content, Amazon MX Player’s involvement as co-presenting partner reinforces Anime India’s vision of making anime culture more inclusive breaking barriers of language, geography, and accessibility to connect with fans nationwide.
Anime India Kolkata 2026 will showcase cosplay competitions, interactive zones led by the Indian Gunpla Community, India-39 Vocaloid Community, The Japan Curry, and Adda-o-Otaku by The Otaku Guild. Fans can join tournaments across fighting games, Pokémon VGC, and more. Acclaimed Japanese director Susumu Mitsunaka (Haikyu!!) will attend as guest of honour, appearing in panels and live sessions. Positioned as an immersive celebration of fan culture and industry collaboration, the Kolkata edition marks the beginning of Anime India’s nationwide expansion.
Sharing their perspective on the partnership, Amazon MX Player director Aruna Daryanani expressed, “Anime in India has evolved from a niche interest into a mainstream cultural movement, driven by an increasingly engaged and passionate fanbase. At Amazon MX Player, our focus is on expanding access by bringing anime to audiences across the country for free and in multiple local languages. Our association with Anime India reflects our commitment to supporting the growth of anime in India and deepening connections with fans, while continuing to build Amazon MX Player as a trusted destination for free, high-quality entertainment.”
“Anime India Kolkata is a celebration of how anime has grown beyond entertainment into a powerful cultural and creative force. By bringing fans, creators, and industry leaders onto one shared platform, the festival is helping define the future of pop culture in India,” said Anime India co-founder and director Neha Mehta.
The debut edition of Anime India 2025 in Mumbai attracted over 29,000 fans, quickly cementing its status as a landmark celebration of anime and Japanese pop culture. Riding on this overwhelming response, the Kolkata chapter is projected to draw more than 40,000 visitors across two days, positioning it as one of the biggest anime conventions ever held in eastern India.
Anime India is focused on bringing together fans from across the country to create a truly pan-India celebration of anime, manga, cosplay, gaming, and Japanese culture. With plans to expand into four key metropolitan hubs in 2026—east (Kolkata), north (Delhi), west (Mumbai), and south (Hyderabad)—the festival seeks to deliver globally benchmarked experiences while supporting and uplifting creators, artists, and fan communities throughout India.
