Soundbuzz GM India operations Mandar Thakur - The mechanisms for discovery of different kinds of music in India are amazing

Soundbuzz continues to be the country's only player straddling both the mobile and internet mediums, and general manager India operations, Mandar Thakur is bullish about the company's prospects.

Thakur says any competition in the online digital music space would be welcome because it would only grow the market; for a long time there wasn't been any other player except Soundbuzz in this business.

Radio City's National Head of Marketing Rana Barua - One of our largest initiatives has been changing our music strategy

Radio City's National Head of Marketing, Rana Barua leads the national marketing team, based out of Mumbai. Barua looks after all national marketing initiatives. The focus of his assignment is to further build on the innovative never-done-before aspects of marketing which will further build the brand, Radio City.

In conversation with radioandmusic.com's Aparna Joshi, Barua detailed the company's changing strategies and outlined some of its plans.

TAM Media Research vice president Pradeep Hejmadi - What matters is giving the market data that is sensitive enough to show change'

TAM India, progenitor of the Radio Audience Measurement study that has just been rolled out, kept a studied silence while the broadcasters interpreted the results they day they were announced on 31 October.

TAM Media Research vice president Pradeep Hejmadi spoke to radioandmusic.com's Aparna Joshi to explain the nuances of the results.

Excerpts:

What has been the picture that has emerged from the first RAM results?

International Music Feed president Andy Schuon - We are targeting 12 to 24 year olds - the Google /Ipod generation

Andy Schuon, former top programming executive for MTV and VH1, is now president of Vivendi/Universal's new TV network IMF: The International Music Feed, the only music TV channel owned by a record label - Universal Music Group.
In an email interview, Schuon outlines his plans for the new channel.

Excerpts:

What is the target audience of International Music Feed? Is it a youth channel or a mix - for both young and older audiences?

The channel is targeted at 12 to 24 year olds.

Shemaroo entertainment director Hiren Gada - Unremix' albums are old songs packaged a new for Gen Next

Hiren Gada, Director, Shemaroo Entertainment is a management graduate with 13 years of experience in media. He handles several areas like Strategy, Marketing, Finance, Overseas Markets, Operations and Acquisitions for Shemaroo and has been instrumental in putting in place several new initiatives for growth and development of the various businesses that Shemaroo Entertainment is operating in.

Radioandmusic.com's Aaishwari Chouhan engages Gada in a conversation on Shemaroo's plans, with particular emphasis on its music ventures.

BIG Digital director Archana Vohra - We plan to launch three to four more portals this year

Archana Vohra took charge as director, Big Digital in September 2007. In less than two months of inception, BIG 92.7 FM's digital and online music foray has ventured into podcasting, plans to get into mobile VAS in a big way and launch a slew of portals in the coming months.

Vohra oversees the digital business which includes all internet properties, the short-code 55454 and the Company's digital and online music foray, about which Big claims to have 'some very ambitious plans in the music space and will be making some major forays in this space over the next few months'.

INX Media head of music entertainment channels Vikas Varma - Anything before 2002 is retro for us

Market sources say 9XM could well be the first from the INX Media family to get off the block, in early November 2007.

INX Media head of music entertainment channels Vikas Varma refuses to be intimidated by the slew of existing music channels that may pose a threat to the new product, and plans to plunge into the arena with a host of radical innovations - no VJs, a shockingly young TG and a heavy use of animation.

In a chat with Radioandmusic.com's Aparna Joshi at the new INX offices in south Mumbai, Varma details his plans for the new venture.

MTV India's GM and VP creative and content Ashish Patil - It would be myopic to say we compete only with channels

He insists he's the oldest person in the organisation, but MTV India's GM and VP creative and content, Ashish Patil bubbles over with energy, enthusiasm and ideas that would make his 'bull's eye' TG - youth, quite envious.

Channel [V] India head honcho Amar K Deb - Blogumentary is our USP

Thirteen years on, Star India's music channel is experimenting with 'blogumentary' content and has adopted the tagline Channel [V] made by you.

The recipe for getting more eyeballs in a genre which is seen to be stagnating also includes the reality format.

In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Richa Dubey, Channel [V] India head honcho Amar Deb speaks about his plans to incorporate user generated content as a key value of the channel in its new avatar while hanging on to the central positioning of being a "music channel."

Big FM COO Tarun Katial - We used the brand ambassador route to break through the cluttered FM market

Reliance ADAG has aggressive plans laid out for its radio venture Big FM. With 29 stations already in place, Big FM has 16 more waiting in the wings. And it has an investment outlay of Rs 4 billion.

Banking on Abhishek Bachchan as the face of Big FM and supported by the brand philosophy of 'Suno Sunao Life Banao,' Reliance's radio venture is looking to firm up its position in existing markets by rolling out four unique properties this year-end.