Half of Sony BMGs Rs. 80 crore in sales in India in 2006 came from mobile mobile downloads, home videos and artist management. In an interview with BusinessWorld, Sony BMG COO Tim Bowen says that that the levels of investment in India are low because piracy is high. Piracy pulls down record and CD sales and “we could spend a lifetime trying to cell CDs in India”. However, the market still deserves investment because of the demand for Indian content overseas, the opportunity of digital (Internet and mobile) distribution. Also, as per Shridhar Subramaniam, MD (India and Thailand) for Sony BMG, “the addition of 3-4 million consumers every day, through rising TV, radio, Internet or mobile penetration, is giving us consumers who we could not reach because of piracy.” Read the interview with Bowen here.
That said, the digital music business is perhaps more in a flux than any other, yet presents an opportunity for discovery of new talent like never before. How can one effectively monetize digital music anymore? Subscription?
In related news, the RIAA sent legal notices to students in 60 college campuses across the US, threatening a lawsuit if they don’t settle out of court. One student, featured in the story, had to pay up around $7.87 per song. She says “Obviously I knew it was illegal, but no one got in trouble for it”. Read that story here.
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