Grew a lot as an artiste with second single: Ananya Birla

Singer-songwriter Ananya Birla, who came up with her second single "Meant to be" at the end of July, says she grew a lot as an artiste while working with Norwegian record producer Anders Froen aka Mood Melodies, for the song.

"The launch of my new single is very special. During this collaboration, I think I grew a lot as an artiste," Ananya told IANS in an email interaction.

Talking about the song, she added: "The song is a lot more mainstream and steers towards the electro-pop genre. With 'Meant to be', I feel like I have actually found my sound."

Being musically inclined from an early age, Ananya, daughter of businessman Kumar Mangalam Birla, learnt to play musical instruments, santoor and guitar at the age of nine. She used to write poetry and music was her passion since childhood. She says, "Somehow music and poetry amalgamated well and I started writing my own music."

The "livin the life" hitmaker, who is also the founder and CEO of three entrepreneurial ventures -- Svantantra Microfinance, Curocarte and Mpower -- believes the key to perfect management is having a great team.

"You can delegate the work to the team and everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing. Everyone is aligned with the vision," said Ananya.

She added: "I am very much involved in the strategic planning and expansion to organic and inorganic growth. Even though I am very involved in the entrepreneurial ventures, presently music does take up more of my time."

Adding further on the changes she wants to bring to her ventures, she said: "What really attracts me to a venture is the 'business with a heart' quotient. There's a lot of heart in these three ventures. So, what I basically want to do with them is to create change and make an impact on people's lives in the best way possible".

The 23-year-old singer also likes to stay active on the social media platforms. She feels that those platforms help her to stay engaged with her audience. But she also feels that balancing social media with personal life is important.

"I think social media is great for me because I can stay in touch with my fans. However, I feel that there is a very fine line between giving out enough and giving out too much information".

Ananya will be releasing her next single in upcoming year and also plans to performing opening acts at events. On the business front, she has expansion plans for Svatantra Microfinance.