Universal Music, Qyuki to jointly develop new music-based content

Mumbai: Universal Music Group, along with its affiliated music publishing entity Universal Music Publishing Group, on Tuesday entered into a “unique strategic collaboration” with Qyuki.com, a music-focused website founded by musician A.R. Rahman and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur.

Qyuki and Universal will jointly develop new music-based content.

The alliance will bring on board established names from the Indian music industry while also promoting and developing independent musicians, a press statement on Tuesday said.

Devraj Sanyal, managing director, Universal Music, South Asia, said, “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.”

The collaboration marks the first association between a music company, a music publisher and a multi-channel network. Qyuki.com provides a social networking platform to collaborate and create media, with mentors providing crucial inputs along the way.

Samir Bangara, co-founder and managing director, 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.”