Yesterday on August 12, Mumbai police reportedly summoned Sagar Gokhale, COO of digital media and artist management company Qyuki. Gokhale was called to record a statement in Badshah’s (Aditya Sisodia) fake social media followers case. Badshah has reportedly told the police that he had paid Qyuki INR 75 Lakh to get 75 Mn views on his song Pagal in a day.
According to an Indian Express report, Gokhale said in his statement that Qyuki’s CEO late Samir Bangara knew more about the company affairs than him. He added that Qyuki’s CFO and video network-manager are more likely to know about the video that Badshah has talked about.
Police have now called the company’s CFO and video network managers along with Gokhale today (August 13) for investigation. Police have found an invoice showing that Badshah has paid Qyuki INR 75 Lakh for advertising. The singer wanted to make a world record for the highest number of views on an album in a day.
However, police suspect that this is a case of views inflation and not advertising. The case has come to the light after a playback singer reported to the police that a fake account was being operated under her name.
Founded in 2011 by late Samir Bangara, AR Rahman and Shekhar Kapur, Qyuki is a data-driven new media company which discovers and invests in India’s most influential KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) to help them rapidly grow their audience, create content and launch scalable D2C brands.
Samir Bangara, the co-founder and chief executive of Qyuki passed away on June 15, following a motorcycle accident.
Qyuki has to its name several premium IPs like ARRived, a singing talent hunt show with AR Rahman as mentor and Jammin’, a collaboration-focused music show where legendary Bollywood composers and India’s top Internet icons create original tracks. In the English Music space, Qyuki launched NEXA Music, a nationwide talent hunt for English-language with India’s leading automaker Maruti.
Some of their other successful IPs include #HaqSeHipHop, a concert series, a podcast with Rolling Stone India, popular digital shows Be The Change with Faye D’Souza and AR’s Super 8, among many others. Qyuki also exclusively manages a host of talent across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
The company recorded revenue of INR 67.8 Cr in FY19, growing from INR 14.2 Cr in FY18. Recently in February 2020, Info Edge has invested $3.5 Mn in Qyuki via its newly launched venture fund (IE Venture Fund I).
The post New Media Startup Qyuki Caught Up In Badshah’s Fake Followers Case appeared first on Inc42 Media.
Author: Yatti Soni
Source : https://inc42.com/buzz/qyuki-caught-up-in-badshahs-fake-followers-case/
Date : 2020-08-13T06:55:34.000Z