Nokia Unveils 'Nokia Music Theatre' Platform

New Delhi: Nokia India 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.”

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.

The 17 artistes selected from the auditions of about 700 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.