Mumbai: musifie, the fast-growing global music creation and direct-to-fan ecosystem, and DIVO (a Warner Music India company), a leading digital media, music distribution and publishing firm, have announced a strategic national partnership to launch musifie x DIVO SoundQuest, a multi-genre, multi-occasion music contest series aimed at discovering and promoting independent artists across India.
Designed as a year-long talent discovery and festival-driven initiative, the partnership will roll out six major contests annually, each aligned with India’s cultural calendar, including Holi, World Music Day, Independence Day, Navratri/Durga Puja, Diwali and Republic Day. The initiative will run through 2026–27, creating a high-frequency, high-impact discovery pipeline for emerging musical talent.
Winners across nine musical skillsets—Vocalist, Composer, Lyricist, Arranger, Guitar, Keyboard, Wind, Percussion and Bass—will collaborate to create an original single using musifie’s creation tools. The track will be mixed, mastered and released globally by DIVO across streaming platforms, supported by integrated marketing and promotion.
The collaboration aims to redefine how India discovers, nurtures and celebrates independent artists by building a closed-loop ecosystem that spans discovery, judging, collaboration, release and amplification. The initiative is based on the musifie x DIVO Tentpole Contest Framework and focuses on cultural relevance, holistic talent discovery, transparent and standardised judging, collaboration-led rewards and festival-driven marketing.
Each contest will follow a structured flow—submissions, screening, jury shortlisting, finals, selection of nine category winners and collaborative single release—supported by a 12-week campaign arc per contest to ensure sustained engagement throughout the year. A 100-point judging rubric covering technical skill, creativity, groove, tone and arrangement has been designed to ensure fairness and industry-grade evaluation.
Commenting on the partnership, Anil Joseph, Founder, musifie, said, “India has extraordinary talent — but talent discovery has been fragmented, inconsistent, and rarely leads to real artistic growth. This partnership solves these issues. musifie and DIVO are building a year-round engine where artists don’t just win a contest — they collaborate, create, release and get the visibility they deserve. This is the future of India’s independent music ecosystem, and we’re proud to lead it.”
Shahir Muneer, Founder & Director, DIVO, added, “DIVO has always championed independent talent and meaningful pathways for artists to break through. This partnership with musifie lets us take that mission national at scale. Six cultural moments, eight categories, and a collaborative single each cycle — it’s a powerful structure. We’re excited to bring our distribution, marketing, and industry networks to amplify India’s next generation of musicians.”
Soumini Sridhara Paul, Strategic Consultant, musifie; Founder & Principal Consultant, Gatsvy Media LLP, said, “This contest framework is not just another talent hunt — it is a structured, culturally-tuned ecosystem designed to develop artists throughout the year. By combining musifie’s creation workflow with DIVO’s release and marketing strength, we’re building a high-impact IP that nurtures talent, celebrates India’s diversity, and creates real industry outcomes. This is how sustainable artist ecosystems are built.”
The initiative is built for scale, inclusivity and impact, targeting college talent, independent musicians, creators and micro-communities across metros as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. With a pan-India, multilingual and multi-genre approach, musifie x DIVO SoundQuest aims to turn every major festival into a national moment for discovering India’s next generation of music creators.
