Aniket Parpillewar Takes the Helm as Awal’s Head for India & South Asia
March 12th, 2025: AWAL announces the appointment of Aniket Parpillewar as Head of India & South Asia. Based in Mumbai, Parpillewar’s leadership will continue to spread the AWAL mission of empowering independent-minded artists in the region by offering a range of services including marketing, creative, sync licensing, promotion and distribution as well as access to real-time comprehensive music analytics. He joins AWAL from Amazon India, where he was Head of Music at Prime Video and Amazon Studios. Parpillewar will report jointly to Paul Hitchman, AWAL’s COO, and Vinit Thakkar, Managing Director of Sony Music Entertainment India.
Following its acquisition of OKListen in 2023, AWAL continues to expand in India with support from Sony Music Entertainment India. The company is also announcing a series of new high-potential signings including Zanai Bhosle, Anumita Nadesan, Dino James, Wolf.Cryman, Shreya Jain, Euphoria, Utsavi Jha, and D Imaan, adding to key artists that joined AWAL with OKListen including The Local Train.
“AWAL has always been global in outlook and, with Sony Music’s support, we are now able to take a significant step in extending the AWAL model and services to artists in India and South Asia,” says Lonny Olinick, CEO of AWAL. “Aniket brings a wealth of music experience in the Indian market to the AWAL team and has hit the ground running with the signings of both established and breaking artists. We look forward to working closely with Aniket and his team, and our partners at Sony Music India, to empower artists in India to reach their full potential both in the South Asia market and beyond.”
“Sony Music Entertainment India is thrilled to support AWAL’s expansion in the Indian market. Aniket’s leadership and AWAL’s unique approach to artist development perfectly complements our own commitment to nurturing local talent,” adds Vinit Thakkar. “We believe this partnership will be instrumental in empowering independent artists and driving the growth of the Indian music industry on a global scale.”
“This is an exciting time for music, with artists having more power and possibilities than ever before,” furthers Aniket Parpillewar. “At AWAL, we believe in helping creators stay true to their vision while enabling them to make their talent seen and heard worldwide. India is bursting with talent and untold stories. I truly believe the next wave of global music will come from here, led by fearless, boundary-breaking artists. Our vision is to empower these artists with freedom and resources they need to craft their own narratives, redefining success on their own terms.”
