India’s leading youth entertainment MTV has collaborated with Ogilvy to launched Memory Karaoke- an empowering initiative to help those people who are living with early Alzheimer’s cope with memory loss.

With the new initiative ‘Forgetting Isn’t Funny’, Memory Karaoke, will feature four foot-tapping songs, based on commonly forgotten information by those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

To create a deeper impact and remove social stigma across geographies and reach out to a wider population, MTV has joined forces with one of India’s largest non-profit groups, the Alzheimer’s & Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), as knowledge partners, an official statement from MTV.

ARDSI is affiliated with Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), is active pan India, which is known for its selfless work which includes providing specialized care services for those who are living with
Alzheimer’s.

MTV will leverage its widespread presence, giving wings to initiate and empower professionals, students, and caregivers in Alzheimer’s month.

Additionally, under this initiative, MTV has also on-boarded doctors to create more awareness and educate the masses about the disease.

Whereas the custom-created karaoke tracks will enable the person, their family, and their caregiver to sing-along songs that hold important details about the person such as their home address, name, meals, etc.

Memory Karaoke is written by Ogilvy, songs are composed by the musical genius Komorebi.

Speaking on this initiative, Anshul Ailawadi, Head, Youth Music and English Entertainment at Viacom18, said, “Music is nothing less than manna for one and all. MTV Memory Karaoke elevates this very role of music to a higher plane by making a small yet significant difference to the lives of those affected by Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. We at MTV are humbled by the opportunity to be a part of this initiative.”

“Music is a therapeutic tool for the mind, body, and soul. Memory Karaoke will be an enjoyable, assistive aid for those with early Alzheimer’s to RETAIN. REMINISCE. RECALL” says Vidya Shenoy an integrative therapist and dementia care specialist who is the Secretary-General of ARDSI.

Elaborating on their idea, Akshay Seth, Group Creative Director, and Chinmay Raut, Senior Creative Director at Ogilvy Mumbai, said, “Growing up, we’ve all experienced how retaining new information would become easier whenever it was set to a tune. With the same being true for those with early Alzheimer’s, we wanted to create a platform where tracks could be customized by the family member by entering important information of the affected member as lyrics.”

He added, “Memory Karaoke offers personalized songs for both to practice daily, resulting in better retention and recall over time. The mission is to introduce an enjoyable, daily ritual that takes away the frustration and helps the caregiver and the person with early Alzheimer’s to eventually sing in a manner comfortable to them.”

“Memory Karaoke is very close to our heart. We strive to put technology to work to make life easier. This was a perfect opportunity to put tech into action for those living with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers. We are proud of the way our team put AI to use in the creation of customizable karaoke videos to help improve memory recall through music.”

This project has given us all at Ronin Labs a vision of how technology can be for each and every one of us. We are both honoured and humbled by this opportunity to work with MTV, Ogilvy and ARDSI” says Sumeet Basak, CEO & Co-founder of Ronin Labs.