A soon to be launched channel, Pepsi MTV Indies, will be a dedicated destination for independent sub-cultures. Pepsi India senior marketing director for colas, juices and hydration, Homi Battiwalla, spoke to Divya Kaushik about this collaborative effort that will help them capture an interesting youth movement
While revolution in independent filmmaking began a few years ago, indie music scene is still waiting in the wings, making most of the digital platform and music festivals across the country. Along with films and music, indie subculture — stand up comedy, graffiti art — has been growing parallely. To capture the talent and potential in indie subculture, Pepsi MTV Indies — a channel by Viacom 18 Media Pvt ltd — was announced recently. The soon-to-be launched channel will not only provide a platform to the independent artistes but will also encourage the youth to pursue their passion. The food and beverage giant, who is the title sponsor of the channel, is a famous brand among the youth and with this channel and association, they are looking forward to recognising young talent from the country. “We are delighted to have this opportunity. As a brand we have always tried to reach out to the youth and most of our ad campaigns talk about the energy, potential and talent of the Indian youth. Our decision to associate with the channel was something that required some introspection but we knew since beginning that it is something unique and fresh. In our country young people are expressing themselves in innovative ways and we should give them a stage. Musicians, filmmakers, comedians and artists are constantly creating their own unique space and are clearly emerging as a force to reckon with. Revolution in indie music scene has been happening and now it is time it should come out in open in a big way. Pepsi MTV Indies is designed to bring together the vibrant potential of Indian youth,” said Homi Battiwalla, PepsiCo India senior marketing director for Colas, Juices and Hydration. He further informed that the channel’s programming will include mood based user generated playlists, artistes busking on the streets of India, indie‘pedia’ to bring you up to speed on the happenings in the indie world, stories from amazing world that exists backstage, insights into iconic album art, showcasing unusual suspects, graffiti art, bespoke automobile designing and avant garde fashion. “It is about everything apart from Bollywood. Therefore the programming of the channel is completely different and since the content will talk about stuff being done by the youth, we are sure it will interest and inspire others too,” he added.
Pepsi MTV Indies is going to be multi-lingual with English, Bangla, Malayam, Hindi, Oriya music on offer. “Music knows no language and on digital platform we have youth listening to all kind of music. We will have the subtitles to make it audience-friendly,” shared Battiwalla.
He believes that a platform like this, available 24x7 and 365 days of the year, will give the indie artists the recognition that’s long due. “What makes a song popularIJ It’s frequency on the TV channels. It’s played more often and heard more often. If our content is exposed more, people will definitely follow it,” he said and added that their aim of collaborating with the channel is not only to reach to their target group but also to spread opportunities across India. “The idea is to provide stage. Every month we will look our for a talent from various colleges of the country. We will look our for college bands who have potential to do professionally well. The selected band will be taken to the MTV studios for recording so it is like giving artistes an accelerated stage to put up their talent,” he said.
The only platform that indie artistes so far had was a digital platform. The only option they have had is to upload their videos platforms like YouTube. “It is a long process, but TV gives a recognition and more opportunities,” said Battiwalla.
The channel is also working closely with bands like Menwhopause, Indian Ocean, Parikrama, Spud in the Box and Sky Rabbit. Some of the shows planned to go on air with the launch of the channel at the end of this month include The Unusual Suspect, Sound Tripping, Morning Jam and Indiepedia.