Launches a first-of-its-kind rich, premier platform for nurturing finest musicians from the grassroots;
Unveils ‘Asha – discovery of the Peninsula’ - the first Nokia Music Theatre album
New Delhi: In line with its strategy to connect people to their passions, Nokia India today announced ‘Nokia Music Theatre’ – a first-of-its-kind premier platform for discovering and nurturing musical talent from the grassroots and providing them with an opportunity to showcase their talent.
Nokia Music Theatre, the result of the partnership between Nokia India and The Peninsula Studios, is an effort to nurture the rich and diverse musical heritage of India. Nokia Music Theatre aims to provide a 360-degree support to talented musicians across the country transcending boundaries of languages, genres and musical forms. The project was successfully piloted in Rajasthan in 2010 where 17 artistes were handpicked from small towns and villages across the state. The pilot culminated with the launch of the first music album – ‘Asha – discovery of the Peninsula’ under the banner of Nokia Music Theatre and published by Universal Music. The album is also available for download on the Nokia Music Store.
Speaking about the initiative, Viral Oza, Marketing Director, Nokia India, said, “Nokia has a formidable musical legacy – from Nokia Music Store, the largest repository of legal and digital Indian music, to offering DRM free music on our recently launched Nokia Asha series of feature phones – we have built a strong music connect with Indians. India is one of the key markets for our music portfolio and, with the Nokia Music Theatre, we aim to discover the musical talent at the grass root and provide these budding musicians with a platform to nurture and showcase their talent.”
According to Sita Raina, Chief Operating Officer, The Peninsula Studios, “The Peninsula Studios is a content creation company that is aimed at facilitating, mentoring and curating quality music from across the peninsula. We are a unique studio where aficionados enjoy live performances while being recorded in a single take. Nurturing diversity in music and reviving forms of music on the brink of extinction is our vision. Nokia is an ideal partner in realizing this vision because of its own formidable musical legacy and a strong commitment to connecting people to their passions.”
Speaking of the launch of the first Nokia Music Theatre album - ‘Asha – discovery of the Peninsula’, Devraj Sanyal, Managing Director, Universal Music India & SAARC says, "Universal Music is most known for breaking more talent than any other label the world over. This project is very close to our heart and we think that the Nokia Music Theatre along with The Peninsula Studios (TPS) and us will be a major paradigm shift in the music publishing scene in India. I expect to see a brand new set of musicians that have never had the chance to showcase their art before be discovered and published due to this great initiative and `Asha’ - the first album is exactly this. One listen and you will experience the brilliance of TPS as well as the exceptional raw and untapped talent that’s brought in as part of the Nokia Music Theatre album”.
After the Rajasthan success, culturally vibrant Uttar Pradesh will be the next stop for ‘Nokia Music Theatre’ which takes off in the Autumn of 2012.
Conceptualized in partnership with “The Peninsula Studios”, Nokia Music Theatre has taken the role to discover musical talent from all over India and present it to the world. The Peninsula Studios has been set up in the National Capital Region as a center, which will curate music, facilitate content creation and mentor talent to present the Nokia Music Theatre. It provided artistes with the opportunity to interact with other artistes and the unique experience of recording in a studio in front of a live audience.
The 17 artistes selected from the auditions of about 7o0 musicians representing a diverse array of alternative genres of music from folk, classical, spiritual, tribal, sufi, thumri, khayal to instrumental, were mentored by some of the heavyweights in the music industry including Shuzaat Khan, Zeb and Haniya among others.
In a fitting culmination of the announcement, The Nokia Music Theatre finalists performed to an enthralled audience which left them asking for more.
About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia’s technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia
About Universal Music India
Universal Music India Pvt. Ltd. (UMIPL) is a 100% subsidiary of the Universal Music Group.
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, Anup Jalota, Bombay Vikings, Jagjit Singh, JoSh, Malkit Singh, Pankaj Udhas, Panjabi MC, Raghav, Bohemia, Mohit Chouhan to name a few. UMIPL ‘film’ catalogue (the 2nd largest in India) spans music from blockbusters such as Sholay, Qurbani, Amar Akbar Anthony, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke, 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, Akon, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, The Black Eyed Peas, Enrique Iglesias, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber amongst host of other popular music icons and household names in India.
For further information, please contact:
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Nokia India
Risha Magu
Tel: +91 124 4833000
Email:
Fleishman-Hillard
Tanushree Mandal
Tel: +91 7738362249
Email:
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