Universal Music Group announces changes to India senior leadership team

Bhujabal will report to Devraj Sanyal, chairman and CEO, India & South Asia and senior vice president of strategy, Africa, Middle East and Asia (AMeA), Universal Music Group. 

Last year, Sanyal was promoted from MD and CEO to chairman and CEO, vacating the role of MD which will now be taken up by Bhujabal.

Meanwhile, Viral Jani has been appointed chief revenue officer of Universal Music India and South Asia.

Bhujabal, who joined Universal Music in April 2023, was executive director at Sony Music Entertainment prior to that. 

To be sure, music labels and artistes in India have set their sights on more non-film songs to reach out to their audiences. 

The non-film genre has more than doubled in music label catalogues—from 5-10% to 30% in the last three years. 

Music labels have used the pandemic period, with its absence of film releases, to launch non-film original songs in Hindi, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Gujarati and Haryanvi, to generate revenue and increase audience share. 

Singers, too, found an opportunity to expand the reach and generate revenue. Universal, which has no current film library, deals primarily in artiste-driven, non-film music, although it has a retro movie catalogue.

While film music will continue to top the charts in India, the emerging artiste-first ecosystem allows for songs to find association with singers instead of the actors they have been filmed on, Sanyal, had told Mint earlier.

Another marker of the popularity of these names is the on-ground shows that sell out when they perform in India and abroad, Sanyal pointed out.

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Published: 09 May 2024, 03:52 PM IST