Saregama appoints Suryanarayana Mantha as new MD

RPG Group owned music label Saregama India Ltd, which has been adding digital media properties, has appointed Suryanarayana Mantha as its new managing director. The acting chief (who sported the designation of a 'manager' for the last eight months) G B Aayeer will step down from the role he had taken in April when Apurv Nagpal quit as the CEO of the firm on January 1, 2013. Aayeer will, however, continue with his previous role as the CFO of the firm.

The company essentially derives its revenues from its core business of music besides film and television division. Music continues to remain the mainstay in terms of bottomline while film and TV serials business is into losses.

Under its previous chief executive Nagpal, the firm had tried to boost its non music business. The music business, which largely derives its revenues through licences, still accounts for around four fifth of its revenues (for the first half of FY13).

When Nagpal had joined in January 2009 as much as 90 per cent of the revenue was churned out of music business.

Besides scaling up business presence in non music category, under his leadership, Saregama also bet on new media with an investment in Bangalore-based digital entertainment startup Timbre Media. Timbre had also collaborated with Saregama to launch 10 music channels on Vodafone under the brand name Vodafone WorldSpace Radio.

Co-founded by former executives of now bankrupt satellite radio firm WorldSpace, Timbre Media holds the exclusive right to use the brand name WorldSpace Radio in India.

(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)