I Am Desi: Desi Hits!

Over the last few years, Eastern culture has had an increasing influence on Western pop culture. From the success of Slumdog Millionaire to Jay-Z’s remix, “Beware of the Boys,” South Asia’s influence has been irrefutable. Out ahead of that trend—and capitalizing on it— is Desi Hits!, an online “fusion MTV” targeting the 18- to 35-year-old worldwide South Asian market.

Anjula Acharia-Bath, co-founder, chairman and president of the NYC-based urban-fusion media company, grew up in a British, all-white, middle-class environment, and felt isolated by her “Indianness.” Today, it’s those bicultural roots—British and South Asian, known by the slang term, “desi”—that have allowed her to effectively promote fusion hip hop in the US and UK markets through her online property, desihits.com. Desi Hits! also creates South Asian/Western fusion music–related media, including audio tracks and editorial content that are published on the company’s website or syndicated through other channels, as well as promotes music videos.

In addition to earning revenue from syndication and selling advertising and sponsorships on their website, Desi Hits! assists in creating music for major labels, and consults with other entertainment companies looking to successfully tap the Asian fusion market. For example, Desi Hits! championed R&B artist Jay Sean and also helped promote the Pussycat Dolls remix song “Jai Ho” on the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. The company also is currently working on a few deals with handset manufacturers to deliver mobile content.

Desi Becomes Bankable
Bath moved to the US with her husband, Ranj Bath (co-founder and COO of Desi Hits!, and a former DJ), and began working as an executive search professional for venture capitalist funds in Silicon Valley. Her contacts in this industry would later lay the groundwork to the initial funding for Desi Hits!. While on the West Coast, Bath says she and her husband were really surprised to find that a lot of South Asian kids were either really into mainstream Western hip hop, R&B, and pop music, or they were really into Bollywood music. But they weren’t aware of the fusion scene that was up and coming in the UK.

Along with Ranj Bath’s cousin, Arun Sandhu (the third Desi Hits! co-founder, and a former VJ in India), the three came up with an idea to podcast a mixture of bhangra, Bollywood, and western music to fill the missing fusion void. They put out their first podcast on iTunes in 2006, and within weeks it had been downloaded approximately 4000 times; the founders realized there was a major demand for this music, but Bath wasn’t yet convinced the podcast could become a viable business. Subsequent podcasts put out by the trio eventually landed number one on iTunes for most popular South Asian downloads, and reached a quarter of a million downloads.

“I saw India emerging and media companies and brands wanting to go into India,” she says. “I also saw what was happening in the UK in terms of cross-cultural influence in music, film, everything.” Later in 2006, Bath began discussing her business idea with some of her contacts at the VC firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Trident Capital, and they funded the Desi Hits! venture. With a few additional investors, the founders raised $1 million that year and $5 million in 2007.