Rakesh Nigam
CEO,
IPRS
Mr. Rakesh Nigam, born and brought up in Mumbai, did his Schooling from Rev. C F Andrews (SSC). He Graduated in Commerce from the M L Dahanukar of Commerce & Economics, Mumbai University. A Chartered Accountant by profession, he embarked on a journey that led him to pivotal roles in renowned organizations across multiple sectors.
After passing his CA in 1989, Mr. Rakesh Nigam joined Fujitsu ICIM (now Zensar Technologies), where he worked for six years with responsibility in Finance, Treasury, and Accounts. In 1996 he relocated to New Delhi to join Cargill India Pvt. Limited (Cargill is the world’s leading Agriculture Trading and Processing Company) as Controller – Flour Milling and was responsible for setting up the Flour Mill and its Finance, Accounts, Administration, and Licensing. In 1999 he joined Saregama India Ltd (HMV) to take over Copyrights as Revenue Stream and made Copyrights a ‘Profit Centre’. The revenues from Copyrights grew from Rs 60 lacs to Rs 4 Crores in 4 years. He also had a short tenure with Universal Music (the world’s biggest music company) before joining The Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. (IPRS) as its CEO in 2004. IPRS administers the rights in the Musical Works & Literary Works performed along with the Musical Works recognised by the Copyright Office, Government of India.
Since 2004, Mr. Rakesh Nigam has played a significant role in IPRS's remarkable journey from Rs 9 crores to around Rs 46 crores in 2017-18, with the last fiscal revenue exceeding Rs. 550 Crores. He has also played a pivotal role in resolving the issues of author/composers and owner publishers, leading to a fresh election to the board and IPRS becoming a Copyright Society.
His relentless efforts to protect creators' and music publishers’ right to royalties have undoubtedly propelled IPRS from a Rs 47 Crore organization to an extraordinary Rs 565 Crore powerhouse, redefining the landscape of musical copyrights and performance rights in India.