eNews
TuneCore announces grant to award for India based-artist
Mumbai: A digital music company and a leading automated distribution division, TuneCore, have announced the funding of a grant for India-based music creators.
The TuneCore Grant is a cash endowment of Rs 1,00,000 that will be awarded to one selected artist. Submissions for the grant will be accepted from 15 November to 15 December 15. Grant applications from artists should include an original single that can be in any language and genre.
Artists who participate and submit their singles will be judged based on their talent and potential by a panel of industry experts, including Spotify head of artist and label partnerships Padmanabhan NS, Lexic founder and entertainment lawyer Sandhya Surendran, UnderTheRada founder and CEO Rahul Sinha, Maed In India founder Mae Mariyam Thomas, Indian Performing Rights Society head of marketing, communication, & member relations Rumpa Banerjee, Turnkey Music & Publishing managing director Atul Churamani, Wild City and music festival Magnetic Fields co-founder Sarah Elizabeth Chawla, celebrated chart topping and award-winning artist Nikhita Gandhi, and TuneCore’s head of South Asia Heena Kriplani.
TuneCore CEO Andreea Gleeson said, “The Indian music market is robust with talented independent artists, and I’m excited that, by offering financial support in the form of the TuneCore Grant, we are able to provide a rising artist with the resources to continue to create work that inspires and resonates with audiences around the world.”
TuneCore South Asia head Heena Kriplani commented, “Despite the difficulties presented by the pandemic, music creators have continued to inspire and persevere. As part of TuneCore’s ongoing efforts to eliminate barriers faced by independent artists, we are excited to fund this new grant and remind our artists that we are here for them.”
Earlier this year, TuneCore unveiled the new unlimited program, allowing constant music creation to be made more accessible for all artists by giving them the ability to release an unlimited number of singles and albums for one flat annual price. The unlimited program gives artists the freedom to create more music and experiment with different release strategies to advance their careers and feed their growing fan bases. Even those sensitive to pricing can experience TuneCore’s expertise in independent distribution and become eligible for upstream distribution through Believe’s Label & Artist Solutions or Believe Artist Services divisions’ “Signed By” program which has benefited over 400 TuneCore artists globally.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
