Santhosh Narayanan; a statement he posted on his Photo Credit: Thamodharan B/The Hindu and @Music_Santhosh/X
Music composer Santhosh Narayanan has launched a new music label, Rakitaa Entertainment, that aims to support emerging musicians.
The composer announced the same on Thursday (15 August 2024), on the 12th anniversary of Attakathi (which marked the debut of Pa Ranjith and Santhosh), the 50th day since the release of his 50th film Kalki 2898 ADas well as his wedding anniversary.
In a statement posted on his “For nearly a decade, I navigated the industry, parked for opportunities, facing countless challenges to showcase my talent. “Those early struggles ultimately paved the way for my career as a film composer.”
Santhosh said the journey showed him the need for a platform that “accelerates careers of deserving musicians, helping them avoid the long waits and struggles I experienced.” His new label, Santhosh added, would put musicians first and would commit to transparency in ownership, payments and long-term support. “We are also in the process of launching a state-of-the-art studio to empower our artists to use as their creative playground.”
Santhosh further announced that Rakitaa Entertainment has kickstarted its journey with two songs from singer Dhee’s debut album — ‘Can’t You Stay a Little Longer’ and ‘I Wear My Roots Like A Medal.’ “These tracks represent the first steps in our mission to support artists and bands whom we believe have the potential to go the distance. We are also developing a democratic platform to manage artist gigs, live shows, ticketing, and more,” said Santhosh, adding that new acts under the label are set to be announced in the upcoming months.
Notably, Santhosh had stated that he would launch his own label earlier this year, on the occasion of three years of the viral video song ‘Enjoy Enjaami.’ In a video posted on his social media handle, Santhosh had criticized Maajja, the music label behind the song, which promised to be a launching pad for emerging indie musicians.
Santhosh had alleged that Maajja approached them promising 100 per cent of the rights, revenues and royalties from the song but the three artists involved (him along with Dhee and Arivu) have not made any revenue from it till now.