MUMBAI: Red FM has come on board as the official partner of Dhun, which is an initiative by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).

NSDC is a nonprofit company set up by the Ministry of Finance. The sole aim of the initiative is to promote upcoming musicians and bands. The radio network will also conduct social media activities for promoting Dhun.

“As a brand we have never taken any initiative just for an on-air activity. Same goes for the initiative Dhun. We will have on-air content and we will also promote the activity on social media. Also previously we had done a few activities for promoting upcoming musicians, so NSDC approached us saying that Dhun was about promoting upcoming musicians so this is how we partnered with them,” said Red FM national marketing head Rajat Uppal.

The radio station will be selecting one band, which will get a wild card entry to the top 10 and will perform on-air. The winners of the contest will win Rs 1 lakh and will also get a chance to create an anthem for NSDC.

Red FM has not yet decided on the jury members. “We are yet to figure that out, but it could be the programming heads and the programming team who can sit together and shortlist the entries,” revealed Uppal.

The bands will be judged on the basis of the capability of singing, playing and synchronisation. The initiative will be promoted in 10 cities, essentially Hindi speaking markets. Radio jockey mentions and promos will be rolled out so as to get maximum entries for Dhun.

This is the first time that the radio station has partnered with NSDC. In the past, Red FM had partnered with the Election Commission of India for creating awareness for voting.

The initiative is only open for semi-professionals, which includes students, young professionals and amateurs. While professional bands are not allowed to participate, a band can have two professionals. The band should comprise four to eight members and the chorus of the original composition should be in Hindi, whilst the rest of the song could be in Hindi or English.The participants need to make a song of three to five minute duration on the issue of unemployment, while also inspiring the want to explore one’s potential, develop new skills, and rise from the dredges of deprivation and focus on self reliance and sustainability.

The contest will have two rounds: one is the preliminary elimination and the second is the finale. Participants can upload the URL of their YouTube or SoundCloud account on the website of Dhun.

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