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JioSaavn founders to step down
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 15 November 2021
The founders of Indian music streaming service JioSaavn are standing down from their executive roles at the company, according to sources who have spoken to Billboard. The departures have seemingly been motivated by changes at the streaming firm’s parent company, Reliance Industries subsidiary Jio Entertainment Services.
The Saavn streaming platform was co-founded by Rishi Malhotra, Vinodh Bhat and Paramdeep Singh – who have continued to work for the company as CEO, President and Executive Vice Chairman respectively.
Saavn merged with Jio Music after Indian conglom Reliance Industries acquired a majority stake in the company in 2018, Reliance also owning India tel co Jio and its spin off services.
According to Billboard’s sources, it’s a newly appointed VP at Jio Entertainment Services – which oversees JioSaavn and the company’s video-on-demand platforms – that has resulted in tensions between the parent company and the Saavn founders.
It reports: “The recent hiring of Khushboo Yadav as VP of Jio Entertainment Services is believed to have triggered the development. According to one person close to the company, Yadav, who has taken over JioSaavn’s licensing negotiations with labels, is said to have an ‘aggressive’ working style that is at odds with the prevailing culture at the streaming service”.
Malhotra, Bhat and Singh – who are expected to retain their seats on the JioSaavn board – apparently informed their team that they will be standing down from their day-to-day roles during a meeting last week.