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Going beyond Bollywood and regional music, Sony Music Entertainment is now eyeing revenues from its non-film based music ventures.
The music company is now gearing up to release songs of the 2nd season of Coke Studio@MTV with original compositions by singers from across the country. Having sold over 15,000 CDs and over 10 million downloads in its last season, a non-film based venture such as Coke Studio is now being looked upon as a bankable revenue stream for the company.
According to Mr Shridhar Subramaniam, President India and Middle East Sony Music India Entertainment, “The Bollywood fixation is slowly changing and today people are looking at all categories of music. We thought that genres such as indi-pop music had collapsed but it is now making a comeback.”
Since local music continues to dominate the top selling regional and Bollywood genres, Sony is developing a business model to sustain itself in the non film segment.
“The business model is very different between film and non film music. Non film music needs to be spectacularly different and unique. The use of Social Media and channels such as YouTube and non mass media ‘discovery’ platforms become essential. Formats such as Coke Studio, Indian Idol and X-Factor play a role in showcasing the talent and music in a non film environment and focusing directly on the performing. We have focused on building our business on the back of these,’’ explains Mr Subramaniam.
Besides the scale of operations between film and non film music is also different. “Film music has the power of stars and marketing budgets that are 5 to 10 times bigger than non-film music. Besides there is acceptance by media such as Radio and TV and the audience awaits a film and its music – which is not the case for a non film venture,” he pointed out.
Sony Music has a classical label – Sony Nad and two Indie labels – FolkTronic and Zomba. It has also collaborated with the NCPA (The National Centre for the Performing Arts), for recordings of legendary Indian music artists.
“Today, non-film music comprises nearly 15 per cent share in the Rs 700 crore music market and is an evolving segment which is getting bigger,” says Mr Subramaniam.
The 15-year-old Sony Music Entertainment entered the country as premium music channel and has competitors such as T-Series and Sare Ga Ma. The bulk of its revenues come from digital sales (40 per cent), followed by physical CD sales (30 per cent) and the balance from new businesses which include publishing and broadcasting revenues.
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