MUMBAI: Physical music is stagnating as digital is taking a steep rise. Digital is considered as the new area of focus but South Indian music industry which also has been growing digitally may have different side to present.
South Indian Music Companies Association (SIMCA) joint secretary Rajesh Dhupad said, “Southern music industry’s physical music has faced a stagnant growth meanwhile digital is growing at 15-20 per cent. In terms of digital, we are hoping a continuum growth in six months.”
He further added, “We feel that internet and physical content needs to be tapped and that there is a lot of room for physical sales. In contrast with the all India performance, South Indian music industry has a lot of flesh left to monetize the physical part. That does not mean, we are not focusing on digital and mobile but it means we are concentrating in physical also.”
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SIMCA has been trying hard to explore all the opportunities that are available in the market. The latest being the YouTube partnership with top label companies in south India. “Today, our biggest opportunity is that we are not leaving any stone unturned to earn revenue from partnership to various technology implementations. We are exploring all that comes in like downloadable and streaming services. We had a deal with YouTube on the same lines and the progress and revenue report about it will come in few months. YouTube has a dedicated team that keeps an eye about our content that is uploaded. This is a way in which YouTube works and is very interesting and we hope that it will help get more and more revenue,” Dhupad said.
He further highlighted that they have focused on mobile strongly this year. He said, “We have directly signed a deal with telecom operators like Vodafone, Airtel, Aircel and Idea for the very first-time and we hope that we make good profits in mobile. Mobile content will be the aim for this year.”
Piracy is always considered as the biggest challenge for the music industry in India but there is one area that needs special interest that is mobile piracy. “Mobile has 99 per cent of music content that is pirated so we end up making negligible amount from mobile,” Dhupad added. Anti-piracy unit of SIMCA – Cell Muzik that issues licenses to shopkeepers to do their business legally, have been making good revenue in Tamil Nadu. Now, they have expanded the same facility in Kerala along with the help of authorities.
