Western music has a huge market in India. The members of the young generation, especially the ones from the urban areas are fond of Western music and you would find songs from a wide range of Western music genres on their personal playlists. The love for Western music among Indians is also evident from the TRP of Western music channels such as VH1.
When Viacom 18 decided to launch VH1 in India, it was slightly apprehensive given the rich heritage of the indigenous music industry of the country. Bollywood is the dominant music industry in the country. The combination of Indian classical music, folk music and Indie Pop creates a unique cocktail, which gels very well with Indian sensibilities. So, it seemed to be very difficult for VH1 to attract the Indian audience especially when Bollywood churns out thousands of fresh numbers each year.
To the surprise of Viacom 18, VH1 TV shows were well received in India and over the years, the channel has been successful in forming its own loyal fan base. In the initial years, VH1 aired chartbusters of the US and UK. It also had a few dedicated slots for the classics from the earlier decades. Today, it has ventured out to air reality shows. Needless to say, VH1 TV shows, whether it be reality-based or not, centre on Western music. VH1 is also planning to introduce some crossover music shows featuring a fusion of Indian and Western music.
In 2015, VH1 launched its own music festival by the name of VH1 Supersonic. In the first year, it was mainly an EDM-based stage show organized in Goa. But as the years passed, it evolved into one of the most popular multi-genre musical shows of India. It has featured some of the most famous international bands and music artistes. All the versions of VH1 Supersonic have been attended in large numbers by the music lovers of India. Every year, people compete for tickets for the show on the online event booking platforms.
The popularity of VH1 in India only proves the strategic superiority of Viacom 18 as a media company. No other media company has ever been successful in popularising Western music in India. What Viacom 18 has achieved has been tried to be replicated by other companies, but none could come close to the popularity of VH1 and VH1 Supersonic.
