Radio City’s Free Verse presents an open-mic platform for artists to showcase their poetry and story-telling skills

The monthly sessions allow artists to hone their craft, showcase their talent and enthrall the audience

India, July 19^th, 2022: Radio City, India’s leading radio network, has launched an open mic platform ‘Radio City Freedom Free Verse’ with the objective of encouraging promising poets, storytellers, and spoken word artists to showcase their talent. This open-mic event has been initiated for like-minded people to demonstrate their potential, hone their skills, and connect with the industry.

As the pandemic led restrictions have subsided, on-ground events have started gaining momentum across the country. Radio City Free Verse held the first session on 25^th May 2022 at Magari, one of Andheri's (Mumbai) most aesthetically pleasing and cozy cafes. The evening saw 11 open-mic performances from diverse age groups, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds. Two of the most renowned poets, Jigar Trivedi and Nishant Verma also performed while Priyasy Bokadia, a famous spoken word performer, served as the host for the event. A plethora of topics ranging from gender equality, romance, heartbreak, mental health, domestic abuse, family, and more were covered.

The second session was conducted on 29^th June 2022 at Mitron Bar & Cafe, Bandra. This session also garnered applause as it serenaded the crowd into the world of words, the rhythm of music, and an abundance of entertainment, with a participation of 12 artists. Some shared their takes on life while some spoke about love and monsoons. The highlight of the second on-ground Free Verse was the age diversity and inclusivity. We had people as young as 24 to participants who were in their late 70s. What made it special was how every performer was able to engage the listeners. Hosted by Nandita Rani, it was an evening spent well amidst the stories weaved by each creative performer.

Commenting on Radio City Freedom Free Verse, Rachna Kanwar, COO - Digital Media, Radio City & Mid-day said, “As the situation has improved after the pandemic pause, performing artists are enthusiastic about getting back on stage. Radio City believes in supporting the new age talent by providing a launchpad to the budding artists to showcase their talent.  With Radio City Freedom Free Verse, we are offering an open mic event for up-and-coming poets, storytellers and spoken word artists to enthrall audiences with their words. Through such initiatives, we aim to support the creative and innovative minds.”

With the objective of promoting Radio City Freedom Free Verse, the company has planned digital promotions in the form of swipe-up stories, e-invites, static post creatives, promotional post campaigns, Facebook events, social media shots, an after-movie session, and much more. Radio City Freedom Free Verse will continue to conduct monthly sessions across different locations in Mumbai.

About Radio City:

Radio City, a part of Music Broadcast Limited (MBL) is a subsidiary of Jagran Prakashan Ltd. Being the first FM radio broadcaster in India with over two decades years of expertise in the radio industry, Radio City has consistently been the number one radio station in Bengaluru and Mumbai with 25.0% and 14.7% average listenership share respectively. (Source: RAM Data, TG: 12+ Period: Week 1, 2013 to Week 08, 2022). Radio City Delhi ranks #3 with 12.1% average listenership share (Source: RAM Data, TG: 12+ Period: Week 1, 2019 to Week 08, 2022).

Music Broadcast Limited currently has 39 stations across 12 states, comprising 62% of the country’s FM population. Radio City reaches out to over 69 million listeners in 34 cities covered by AZ Research 2019 (Source: AZ Research Report). The network provides terrestrial programming along with 17 other web-stations, through its digital interface, www.radiocity.in

Radio City has spearheaded the evolution of FM radio by offering content that is unique, path-breaking and invokes city passion amongst listeners with its brand philosophy of “Rag Rag Mein Daude City”. The network introduced humour and the concept of agony aunt on radio with Babber Sher and Love Guru respectively. It also initiated Radio City Freedom Awards, a platform to recognize independent music and provided a launch pad to budding singers with Radio City Super Singer, the first singing talent hunt on radio.

Radio City has bagged over 110 awards across national and international platforms such as New York awards, ACEF awards, Golden Mikes, India Radio Forum, etc. in the recent past. Radio City has consistently featured for the 7th time in ‘India’s Best Companies to Work For’ study conducted by Great Place to Work Institute. The company has also been recognized in ‘India’s Best Workplaces for Women – 2019’ and has ranked amongst the Top 75 organizations on the list. In 2020, Radio City ranked 4th in ‘Best Large Workplaces in Asia’, according to the GPTW survey.