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Music to industry's ears...
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The all-new private FM channels are not an unmixed blessing. They might play non-stop music but their melody is becoming a malady for music companies who allege that they have been short-changed in the emerging FM scenario. ANUJ KUMAR gives us the latest... .
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Delhi is tuned in to FM in a big way. The question is where are the music companies headed. Photos. S. Subramanium.
WE KNOW that few species love the flesh of their ilk. But cannibalism in music world! Yes, after "Bhoot", the latest morbid fear in the air is that music companies are going to be devoured by the FM boom in the metros and some mini-metros. In this war of control over melody, where both the players have equal monetary flesh, currently FM channels seem to be better placed as they have offered listeners the choice to listen to only the hit music with a surprise element of `what's next' both of which are missing in the cassettes and compact discs.
Also, both are vying for the same time slot - when people are on the move - in car, bus, auto or simply walking in the neighbourhood market. In fact, this is the only aural time left now because as soon as we reach home eyeballs take over. But, what puts FM channels ahead is that while for FM one doesn't have to put one's hand in pocket, for cassettes and CDs one has to shell out anything from Rs.50 to 200. A survey done by Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) has revealed that an increased number of Mumbai motorists are playing private FM radio instead of music cassettes and CDs. Something similar is likely to be a result of a survey if it were to be undertaken in Delhi too. The type of offers and contests that radio stations are using to lure the listeners, very soon people will start searching junkyards, where they can dump their collections.
So, while the stocks of FM channels are soaring, music companies, which buy music rights of films for crores of rupees, are terrified of the implications. "Our sales have come down by 20-30 percent because of 24-hour FM stations and if this continues many music companies will be forced to close down their operations making more than 50 lakh people in music distribution chain jobless," laments Ved Channa, senior director Super Cassettes Industries Limited. He pleads that as the Government safeguards cottage industries by levying anti-dumping duties; here also Government must intervene to save the music industry, which is virtually bereft of oxygen supply after the FM players cluttered the air.
However, in countries like the U.S., where there are more than 10,000 FM stations and the U.K. where each county has more than one station, the sale of cassettes has not been affected. A.P. Parigi, Managing Director, Entertainment Network India Limited, which runs Radio Mirchi says, "International experience shows that radio promotes music." He is right but here the issue under scanner is not the fate of music but music companies.
Shameer Tandon, marketing head, Virgin Records believes, "FM radio in India is not playing the role of promotional tool as it is doing in the West as here they are playing only the `hit' songs many times a day making the need to buy cassettes futile. See, there are certain songs, which are not good enough to rise up the charts themselves. Such songs need the support of radio so that listeners start identifying them but instead of promoting such songs they keep on promoting songs - that too with all the stanzas, which don't require any." He is open to the idea of radio edits, where radio will play only a few stanzas of hit songs to create curiosity among the masses so that they buy music albums. "Otherwise this free music will adversely affect the quantity and perhaps even quality of music in the country," he bemoans.
"There are pros and cons in every issue but the fact is that both of us are here to stay and it is not that we are playing just latest Hindi film songs, we are promoting old melodies as well," contends Nischint Chawla, COO Radio Today.
Channa complains that music companies were not taken into confidence before the Government permitted the entry of private players. "Though the license is for entertainment instead of a fair sprinkling of plays, talks on career and health and for that matter, poetic soirees interspersed with good music, the stations are churning out only Hindi film and popular music day in and day out without the permission of companies, which hold the rights. How can one start a station without any database," he questions.
"We had to pay humungous amount as the license fee to the Government so we can't take chances at the very beginning. So, we are playing just Hindi music, not even English with some humour to coax both listeners as well as advertisers and we are paying the companies according to per needle hour," answers a source in a private FM channel. He feels that the real problem of the industry is piracy and not the FM players.
But Channa contends that they spend crores of rupees on acquiring music rights while FM stations play songs round the clock, charge Rs.2 lakhs per hour from the advertisers and in turn offer on an average a measly Rs.150 to 650 per needle hour of the music played to the concerned companies.
Companies are also apprehensive that as the FM stations are being backed by big media houses, they might make a foray into music buying business as well. The presence of Times Music in the market may add credence to this apprehension but Chawla denies any such plans as far as Today group, which is behind RedFM is concerned. He reiterates, "Even if we enter the market it is not to harm the interest of other companies. Right now, promotion of music is our policy."
"We are negotiating through Indian Music Industry (IMI) - a consortium of leading music companies and right now the talks are in a stalemate as stations are offering X-amount and we are demanding Y but if the things don't work out we are ready to take the legal route," adds Shameer. But oblivious to the nitty-gritty of this battle, the music buffs are enjoying the rain of FMs in this scorching summer. But clearly the heat of the battle is going to take its toll. On whom? Your guess is as good as Channa's or any of the FM players.
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