IMAGINE this Rs 750-crore industry. Several agile players have shaken the foundation ofa 90-year monopoly; a new and successful product is born every day; new advertisingoptions are demolishing traditional marketing assumptions; and the market just keeps ongrowing, faster and faster.
Exciting? Welcome to the Indian music industry, circa 1996.
Monopoly, Move Over: In the organised sector, HMV dominates in most musicalcategories but competition keeps the company on its toes. In the Hindi film musiccategory, which has a 70 per cent share of the total market, upstarts like Tips, Venus andTime and a rejuvenated Polygram spring surprises with astonishing regularity.
In non-film music (around 20 per cent market share), HMV’s products are frequentlyedged out by BMG Crescendo and Magnasound. In international music (10 per cent share),Polygram and BMG Crescendo, with an impressive ensemble of old favourites and new stars,can hog the limelight just as easily.
Tracking Sound: Tips, Venus, Time...where were they just a few years ago?According to market sources, the Rangeela soundtrack from Time sold around one crorecopies; Venus’ Akele Hum Akele Tum touched around 20 lakh, while Mohra sold anestimated 70 lakh; Tips’ Coolie No 1 did around 35 lakh copies. And of course,there’s T Series, whose run of bad luck ended with Bewafa Sanam, which has reportedlysold around one crore copies. If in the 1980s HMV’s principal competition came fromcut-price pirates, the 1990s spell aggressive organised sector rivalry from oftenunexpected quarters.
The newest entrants in the music sweepstakes are Zee Music and Plus Music, bothoffshoots of television software companies. Zee scored a big hit with Yaraana, and PlusMusic’s western popular range has hit the market at Rs 50, which is Rs 25 less thanthe average price for such cassettes. "Newcomers have to emerge," says DextrylFerrao, international product manager at Polygram. "The scene is reallyhotting up,and if a company like Plus Music hits the market, one can only say, join the bandwagon.More competition is always better because bad music gets eliminated from the market."
While one must wait and see whether the low-price strategy works in westernpopular music, Plus Music’s Hindi catalogue has already hit paydirt with Papa KahteHain.
After staying out of the high-stakes race for film music rights for a few years, HMV began the ’90s with a soundtrack signing spree. And with the return of melody in Hindi film music, the company has managed some huge hits. Darr, market sourcessay, sold around 45 lakh copies; Gentleman sold nearly 40 lakh and 1942: A Love Story soldaround 50 lakh. Hum Aapke Hain Koun reportedly hit the magic figure of one crore as didDilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. And for 1997, HMV is banking on the Bobby Deol-Aishwarya Raistarrer Aur Pyar Ho Gaya with music by the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. "The factthat film music sells the most shall remain unchanged in the years to come," saysPavan Malhotra, HMV’s manager, product development.
The Ascent of Desi Pop: In non-film popular music, there’s a riot.Says Suresh Thomas, managing director, BMG Crescendo: "We believe in the philosophyof promoting our artistes through the success of whom the company can gainrecognition." This attitude has made BMG Crescendo a significant player in the Hindipop segment. A new name like Anaida has sold around 1.5 lakh copies; Sukhbir and PiyushSoni managed impressive figures of 80,000 copies each. And Magnasound, the other bigplayer in this area, has enjoyed unexpected succeswith Daler Mehndi, whose debut album hascrossed the four-lakh figure.
Following the rapid-fire creation of sleekly-packaged young stars, many old names havebeen compelled to retire before time. But a few continue to rake it in. Alisha’s Madein India from Magnasound has touched a phenomenal 16 lakh copies; Baba Sehgal’sIndian Romyo sold around a lakh; Malkit Singh’s latest has registered a sales figureof around 1.10 lakh copies already.
Jackson’s History: Every day, satellite channels expose the western popmusic listener to new sounds and names. In this most unpredictable of segments where oldnames can turn turtle at the drop of a note, HMV, Polygram and BMG Crescendo have around25 per cent marketshare each, Magnasound has around 15 per cent, and Sony around 10 percent. Clearly, the race is close, with market equations changing every month.
For, surprises abound. A new group like Ace of Base suddenly goes double platinum. Andwho could have imagined that an Algerian singing in an incomprehensible language couldsell two and a half lakh cas-settes in India? Or a man in a strange haircut wouldrap-ragga-bhangra all the way to the bank? In the BMG Crescendo catalogue, an unexpectedhit—90,000 copies—has been a long-haired Greek classical pianist performing atthe Acropolis. HMV has the unusually named Michael Learns to Rock which has soldapproximately 60,000 copies; Whigfield and Shaggy which have sold a similar number each;and 2 Unlimited which has managed over 40,000 copies.
No More a Dinosaur: Hindustani classical music was just a loss-making add-onessential for evolving a company’s corporate profile. Or, so one thought till MusicToday’s classy products hit the market.
Today, the segment’s potential is estimated at Rs 25 crore and HMV and Music Todayare the two major players. HMV has recently launched the Marga series of classical musiccassettes to take on Music Today head-on. Asserts HMV’s Malhotra: "While HMV hasno competition as far as repertoire is concerned, Music Today’s high-profilemarketing makes it a very serious competitor." The accent here is on carefulselection ofpieces—Music Today has shown that arranging the collections aroundparticular themes is a powerful way of finding a place on the customer’s music racks.As is premium packaging with extensive sleeve notes that explain the meaning andimportance of the pieces to the lay listener.
Copy Right: Pirates continue to capitalise on the insufficient vigilance of theIndian Music Industry (IMI) and the loopholes in the Copyright Act. Fake soundtracks crowdthe market in small towns and quite easily sell as much as original music, if not more. Ina market where not many care for quality, cheap pricing does the trick.
HMV has been trying to battle the pirates by leveraging its huge repertoire intocarefully created compilation cassettes—from Asha Bhonsle-Kishore Kumar duets tosongs from Dev Anand films. In the business for nine decades, the company can boast of abase volume of two million cassettes every month from their old repertoire which is morethan the 1.5 million cassettes coming from the new film segment.
The other strategy is to sell quality, and sell upmarket. HMV has come up with theSheer Magic range of cassettes, priced at Rs 100 each. Says Malhotra: "HMV’sconcept of releasing such branded music is aimed at bringing about a change in the waymusic is retailed all over the country." Sheer Magic is expected to contribute atenth of the company’s sales in the long run.
While the battles rage on, the combatants face a slew of questions. Isit with insertions on FM that unknown artistes sell, or are music videos more potent? Dosponsored concerts do the trick when the singer is new? Beyond anti-piracy raids, what cankeep the pirates in check? Just how can one manipulate the old repertoire in the best waypossible? Can a premium range of cassettes create a niche market when cheap‘version’ alternatives are available?
These questions will need to be answered, and pretty soon. Says Ferrao:"The music industry is dynamic and vibrant unlike ever before. The changes are justtoo obvious." Too true. Indeed, change is the only certainty as the Indian musicindustry sets about redefining itself.
