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Journalism of Courage
He8217;s your regular CEO 8212; button-down shirt, tie, formal trousers, matching socks and black shoes 8212; the works. Only he runs a company that8217;s far from regular. Jayant Sharma is the Chairman and MD of Milestone Entertainment P Ltd, which has tied up with EMI Music 8212; the global music giant 8212; for distributing international albums in India. Most people in the country still have no idea of what a music company does. 8220;A lot of my relatives think I own a music store or something. Others ask me if I have a factory that makes cassettes,8221; laughs the 35-year-old Sharma.
But it really isn8217;t a laughing matter, for music today is all about big competition, big risks, and big money. Sharma, for that matter, has been an ideal candidate. 8220;I started working at the age of 20,8221; he recalls. 8220;That was just after I finished my graduation in Commerce.8221; Sharma started his career with the Swastik division of the Sarabhai Group of Companies, and has since sold 8220;almost everything under the sky, from soap to software!8221;
Sharma, whose father taught at the prestigious Mayo College, Ajmer, but passed away when he was merely 14, remembers how it was imperative for him to start working. 8220;At the time, I was a hard-core field person working in the rural and semi-urban areas. That taught me the workings of Indian distribution systems and how the non-urban markets work8221;.
That knowledge stood him in good stead as he job-hopped to the Gramophone Company of India, more identifiable by its HMV label, literally setting up its Gujarat8217;s distribution network. And that is where he learnt to work the music industry, an experience which came in handy while setting up Milestone. 8220;But I was never as much into music as you8217;d imagine,8221;he reveals. 8220;Rajeev was the musical guy in the family. He was like a walking encyclopaedia of music, especially rock,8221; recalls Sharma.
In fact, Milestone was born under the oddest circumstances. 8220;I was in Nigeria, where I had my own company, and had come down for Rajeev8217;s wedding. The day before the wedding, Rajeev quit his job at GramCo, and it was during the night as we talked on the train to Lucknow, that Milestone was born,8221; he says.
Initially, though, Milestone also dabbled in events, but soon moved out of that segment in order to concentrate on music. As Sharma explains: 8220;It was only diluting our core competency, which was music.8221; So, music it was. And with at least two successful albums under their belt 8212; Annamika8217;s eponymous second album and Junoon8217;s Azaadi 8212; and a third one, Aria, just launched, Jayant can afford to say that he8217;s arrived.
