Divo, a Chennai-based digital media and music distribution company, is building a technology platform that will enable independent regional artists and music production houses from across the country to seamlessly publish, distribute and monetise their contents.

“We are developing our own technology framework using which we will be able to service clients across India without need for any physical interaction.This will be first-of-its-kind music technology framework by an Indian company,” Shahir Muneer, Founder and Director, Divo told BusinessLine.

“Once that is done, an artist sitting in Punjab or Assam or Meghalaya will be able to work with us and receive all our services online without needing a face-to-face interaction,” he added. 

Started as an online video platform in 2013, Divo has diversified over the years to become a leading digital media and music distribution company in India. It currently operates in three divisions: online video (aggregating content for various video and OTT platforms); music distribution and publishing; and digital marketing solutions for brands, celebrities and movies. 

Under the music division, Divo works as a record label, distributor and publisher for over 500 music clients. It partners with film production houses, TV channels, musicians, independent artists and new media creators to help them distribute music across various platforms worldwide and generate royalties. Some of its clients include Jio Studios, Reliance Entertainment, actor Dhanush’s Wunderbar Films and Lyca Productions to name a few. 

Unlike the traditional model where producers sell their music copyright to music labels, Divo enables content creators / owners to retain the IP and copyright with themselves and earn royalty on a perpetual basis.

“We distribute the songs across every avenue where music gets played be it in digital, mobile, radio, public performance, audio streaming platforms or TV and royalty gets generated every time the song is played not just in India but in any part of the world,” Muneer said. 

Divo has distributed more than 30,000 tracks with over 300 plus labels and artists across various languages.

In November 2019, Divo partnered with south Indian production house Media Masons to offer publishing and distribution outreach to independent regional artists. While their first release under the partnership has already garnered close to 10 million views on YouTube, Muneer said they are planning to release 30-40 songs every year in Tamil with Media Masons. 

Indie music gaining traction

“There is active development going on in all the south markets for Indie music. While Tamil has the first mover advantage, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada are also picking up,” Muneer said and added that Indie music is gaining traction in the south for host of reasons including postponement of movie and film song releases, spurt in digital consumption and demand for fresh contents. 

“Also, Hindi and Punjabi independent music have become very big these days and they even compete with Bollywood in terms of number. So, it is also a reflection of it here,” Muneer said. 

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