Yash Raj Films Opens Raah Records To Sign And Develop Independent Artists

Yash Raj Films has launched Raah Records, a label for independent artists, in its most direct move yet into music that has nothing to do with its films. The first release, "Jaadugari" by singer-songwriter Aman, came out on 5 August.

YRF already owns one of the deepest film music catalogues in the country. Raah is a different kind of business. The company describes it as an artist development operation built around long careers, as opposed to a label that pushes out singles and moves on.

Who runs it

Raah is led by Nakul Sharma, senior general manager for music management at YRF, who shaped its A&R strategy and what the studio calls an incubator model. The label says it will sign artists early and help with songwriting, production, creative direction, audience building and partnerships.

YRF chief executive Akshaye Widhani was explicit about the pitch. "Great artists need more than distribution; they need belief, time and long-term creative partnership," he said in a statement. "Raah Records is built around careers, not campaigns."

Sharma said the label was built on the idea that "artists need time, they need trust, and they need the space to grow into who they already are", and described Aman as "exactly the kind of artist we built Raah for".

"Jaadugari" came out of a year of work with Aman before the label went public, according to YRF. More signings and releases are planned over the coming months.

The label has not said how many artists it plans to sign or what its contracts look like. What it has said is that its support goes well beyond releasing music, covering songwriting and production through to creative direction and audience development.

Reading the move

Indian film studios have watched non-film music take a bigger share of streaming charts and decided they want a piece of it. YRF has the money and the marketing reach to make a small roster work. What it has not had is credibility in the independent scene, where artists tend to be wary of large companies and long contracts.

Raah's language about time and trust is aimed squarely at that wariness. The real test will be the next few signings, and whether the label can show patience with an artist whose second or third single does not land.

(Source: official press release)