Yash Raj Films Opens Raah Records To Sign And Develop Independent Artists
Yash Raj Films has launched YRF Raah Records, a label for original, non-film music by independent artists, and Aman's 'Jaadugari' was its first release.
Yash Raj Films has launched Raah Records, a label for independent artists and its first serious step 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 sits on one of the deepest film music catalogues in the country. Raah works differently. The company calls it an artist development operation built around long careers, not a label that puts out a single 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 put the pitch in two lines. "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 rests on the idea that "artists need time, they need trust, and they need the space to grow into who they already are". Aman, he said, is "exactly the kind of artist we built Raah for".
According to YRF, "Jaadugari" came out of a year of work with Aman before the label was made public. More signings and releases are planned over the coming months.
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What hasn't been said
The label has not said how many artists it will sign or what its contracts look like. It has said its support runs well past releasing music, from songwriting and production through to creative direction and audience development.
The studio and the scene
Non-film music has been taking a bigger share of Indian streaming charts, and film studios have noticed. YRF has money and marketing reach that most independent labels don't. Independent artists, for their part, have long been cautious about large companies and long contracts.
Raah's statements lean heavily on two words, time and trust. The next few signings, and what happens to an artist whose second single does not land, will show what those words mean in a contract.
(Source: official press release)
