Karthik Rao Music (Independent music studio for OTT, gaming & branded content) | Mumbai

• Founder and Creative Head
  • Founded and scaled an independent music production studio, integrating creative execution, media strategy, content and operations planning, achieving 15-20% annual growth in topline.
  • Delivered music for marquee clients like Pocket Aces (Half Love Half Arranged S1 & S2), TVF (Very Parivarik), and RVCJ (Tuition Days), aligning with consumer insights and content strategy frameworks.
  • Built a trusted client base with 20+ repeat clients, managing creative teams and business stakeholders.
  • Achieved high-quality content, execution speed and consistency across projects by designing and scaling (3x) an efficient studio layout and infrastructure.
  • Reduced turnaround time by 50% by delivering scalable background music stems and catalogs for PocketFM’s top-performing audio series (Saving Nora, My Vampire System), enabling editors to independently craft final outputs.
  • Accumulated 30M+ Spotify streams for original compositions across digital series—establishing a strong non-Bollywood footprint and boosting long-tail audience engagement
  • Led creative development for FreeFire India’s major seasonal campaigns (Diwali, Pushpa, Holi), delivering branded content assets that increased engagement and platform reach.

Pocket Aces (Youth-focused digital entertainment company) | Mumbai

• Music Producer
  • Led music production and licensing for digital series, aligning creative execution with brand goals, audience insights, and broader content strategy.
  • Produced viral original tracks like Dil Pe Dastak (14M+ streams), strengthening brand identity and driving audience engagement across platforms.
  • Bridged creative and business teams by translating briefs into actionable music strategy, reducing feedback cycles, streamlining timelines, and reducing overhead costs.
  • Negotiated music rights and IP licensing for flagship IPs like Little Things, ensuring timely clearance and alignment with business strategy and platform compliance.
  • Spearheaded music production for popular IPs including Please Find Attached, Operation MBBS (S1 & S2), Staffroom, and Half Love Half Arranged, delivering high-impact soundtracks that elevated audience experience and deepened emotional engagement.
     

The Viral Fever-TVF (Long-form content studio) | Mumbai

• Music Producer
  • Drove end-to-end music production for some of TVF’s flagship digital series, blending creative storytelling with technical execution.
  • Led concept-to-delivery production cycles, from artist coordination, scheduling, and iterative music development for high-impact content visibility.
  • Composed Main Bola Hey (12M+ Spotify streams), now a defining cultural soundtrack for Kota Factory.
  • Delivered music across a portfolio of flagship IPs including Cubicles, Hostel Daze, and Humorously Yours, among others, ensuring consistency in tone and brand voice across genres.
  • Standardized workflows and templates to streamline production and scale output quality across projects.
  • Played a key role in elevating TVF’s sonic identity, reinforcing emotional connect and deepening audience engagement across shows.
     

Sound.com (Live sound production for large-format events) | Mumbai

• Live Sound Engineer
  • Led technical planning and execution for large-scale concerts and corporate events, building a strong foundation in audio systems, operations, and real-time decision-making.
  • Managed on-ground delivery for high-profile events, combining project planning with live execution under pressure.
  • Served as systems engineer for large-scale concerts and mix engineer for corporate shows.
  • Supervised 10–20-member teams, ensuring timely setup, calibration, and delivery of professional-grade sound systems.
  • Maintained high audio quality through rigorous technical checks, live mixing, and crisis troubleshooting under pressure.
  • Flagship projects included MTV Unplugged and the JIO launch, both requiring precise coordination and adherence to demanding production standards.

• 34M+ Spotify streams, with Main Bola Hey! alone crossing 12.3M+
• 36M+ YouTube views across branded and original music content
• Winner – Most Creative Award, Pocket Aces (2021)
• TVF Bachelors – Best Web Series, News18 Reel Movie Awards (2018)
• Scaled independent music studio with 15–20% YoY topline growth and 20+ repeat clients

• PG Certificate, Film and Television Institute of India, Pune
• B.E. Computer Engineering, Sinhgad College of Engineering, Pune

• Lean Six Sigma – green belt

• Consulting Club – Engaging with alumni to organise training sessions and mock interviews, focused on building the cohort’s consulting skills and readiness for placements.
• Profile Committee – Supporting the vetting and refinement of student profiles to ensure accuracy, consistency, and strong positioning for networking and institutional visibility.