QYUKI.COM SEALS CREATIVE ALLIANCE WITH UNIVERSAL MUSIC
The world’s leading music company, Universal Music Group, and its affiliated publishing entity, Universal Music Publishing Group have entered into a unique strategic collaboration with Qyuki.com, a music focused Multi-Channel Network (MCN) co-founded by industry mavericks, including maestro A.R. Rahman, ace filmmaker ShekharKapur and veteran digital professional, Samir Bangara. This marks the first ever association between a music company (UMG), a music publisher (UMPG) and a Multi-Channel Network (MCN), all of which are entities that are affiliated with and manage multiple artist channels on YouTube.
Emerging as a game changer in the digital music space, the alliance will bring on board renowned and established names from the Indian music industry whilst also promoting and developing upcoming independent musicians. Via this partnership artists will now be able to sing cover versions of songs from the world’s largest catalogue of music, across genres and also monetize content thus created. In addition, Qyuki and Universal will jointly develop new music based content formats.
The three will scout and promote independent songwriters and artists and help them develop their careers by producing videos, building fan following and optimizing their online video presence on Youtube and other digital video platforms. The partnership also promises to cross barriers, revamping existing content and create new opportunities for musical talent.
The alliance which is already operational launched its first initiative called “The Sofa” – a live Google hangout which gives fans an exclusive opportunity to interact with their favourite music stars and gain insights into their world of music. The Sofa was launched with megastar RahatFateh Ali Khan wherein the singer interacted with fans on his latest album Back 2 Love and his upcoming projects. Another initiative that has been launched aimed at breathing new life into the devotional music genre, through the creation of lyrical audio visual videos, rendered by some the finest artists of the Indian music industry.
Speaking on the association, Devraj Sanyal,Managing Director, Universal Music / EMI Music, South Asia, said, “We at Universal have always been pioneers in the global music scene and our partnership with Qyuki stands testimony to this. Our objective through this alliance is to create new digital monetization avenues of existing content libraries and also provide access to a vast pool of curated artists from the Qyuki network”.
Commenting on this partnership, Samir Bangara, Co-Founder and MD, Qyuki.com said, “The Qyuki-Universal tie-up is a game changer for the digital music scenario in India providing independent artists a democratic platform with tools and infrastructure to break out into the mainstream. We are going through the most exciting phase this industry has seen and we are proud to be the catalysts for change”
In regards to this strategic alliance, Achille Forler, Managing Director of Universal Music Publishing Group, says “This strategic creative alliance between three companies creates a global platform for Indian talent and is testimony that the music business, which is undergoing change beyond recognition, keeps its focus on discovering, nurturing and promoting new talent while generating revenue for the established authors and composers.”
About Universal Music India:
Universal Music India Pvt. Ltd. (UMIPL) is a 100% subsidiary of the Universal Music Group (UMG) and is home to record labels such as A&M Records, Blue Note Records, Capitol Records, Capitol Records Nashville, Caroline, Decca, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Emarcy, Geffen Records, Interscope Records, Island Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Republic Records, Universal Music Latino, Verve Music Group, Virgin Records, Virgin EMI Records.
UMIPL has an extremely rich Indian catalogue comprising songs from classic Hindi and Regional Films, IndiPop, Bhangra, Ghazals and Devotional. It’s enviable catalogue includes artistes such as Asha Bhosle, AnupJalota, Bombay Vikings, Jagjit Singh, JoSh, Malkit Singh, Pankaj Udhas, Panjabi MC, Raghav, MohitChouhan, Euphoria, Adnan Sami, Rabbi Shergill, RahatFateh Ali Khan to name a few. UMIPL `film’ catalogue (the 2nd largest in India) spans music from blockbusters such as Sholay, Qurbani, Amar Akbar Anthony, ChoriChoriChupkeChupke, Devdas and Munnabhai MBBS amongst the numerous jewels which symbolize the musical journey from the 70’s to date. On the International music front, UMIPL are the clear market leaders with artistes such as ABBA, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Enrique Iglesias, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, The Beatles, UB40, Deep Purple, Enigma, Norah Jones, Deadmau5, The Chemical Brothers, amongst host of others, popular music icons and household names in India.
About Qyuki
Qyuki, a company co-founded byShekharKapur, AR Rahman and Samir Bangara, helps creators build their fan following by producing and distributing online videos with the aim to create enduring intellectual properties.
Qyukiaims to democratize creativity. The primary focus of Qyuki is to vest the power of creativity and the ability to make money with the creator. This power manifests in the form a network where the artists can jam, create and make a living through something they’re passionate about. Our artists have access to studio-floors, cameras, lights, editing suites, sound studios and a team of filmmakers, sound engineers and editors. The artist gets support from Qyuki right from conceptualizing, executing to finally presenting their creativity to their audience through Qyuki’s Multi-Platform Network.
Some of Qyuki’s artistsinclude RanjitBarot, Anand Raj Anand, Shweta Subram, RaagaTrippin, Purbayan Chatterjee, Ramona Arena, ReenieMansata, Apernit Singh as well as unseen acts like the Dopeadelicz,and the Slumgods
