 "UK's Virgin EMI Records enters India")
Universal Music Group’s British music record label Virgin EMI Records will be making an entry in India through a tie-up with Tanaaz Bhatia led Bottomline Media and Vishal Patel’s Be Seen. An established record label in UK, Virgin EMI intends to introduce its pool of artistes to the Indian music scene and will also offer a platform for Indian music artistes. The other partners in India, Bottomline Media and Be Seen, have tied-up with the record label for artist collaborations and brand partnerships for the record label’s artists in India.
“Discovering individuals of the calibre of Tanaaz Bhatia and Vishal Patel has been a breath of fresh air to us. These two amazing people have totally excited us with a plan and strategy that previously seemed impossible and are connected at the very highest level within the Indian market,” says Ted Cockle, President Virgin EMI, Universal Music Group.
Bottomline Media delivers fully integrated range of services across facets of the entertainment world to create value for its investments and partners. Its range of services include creating brand identity, movie marketing, various marketing associations and tie ups, media solutions & talent management services.
Patel-led Be Seen is a product placement platform that works to connect influencers and brands in a unique organic way. The UK based company has backing from Universal Music and private equity Infinite Capital Partners, also UK based.
“At Bottomline Media we have successfully merged the two worlds of entertainment and brands keeping in mind the sensibility of both the worlds for the widest possible reach. With Virgin EMI we will bring on-board major collaborations of the best musicians from UK and India. We will also develop brand partnerships for the talent pool of Vigrin EMI records in India. We are very excited about this tie-up and are looking forward to a long standing association for the record label,” says Bhatia, managing director, Bottomline Media Pvt Ltd.
Universal is already present in India in the form of Universal Music India. Apart from the core business of music, the record label giant has recently ramped up its focus on the music merchandising business. The products, which include fashion, apparel and digital accessories, are available under Universal’s global music merchandise label Bravado, across physical retail and e-commerce platforms.