[cr-india] NEWS: Indian music industry takes on radio, piracy

[Frederick Noronha (FN)]

Indian music industry takes on radio, piracy

By Krittivas Mukherjee, Indo-Asian News Service

Kolkata, Sep 6 (IANS) India's music industry, bleeding from the onslaught of
television and radio's music channels and piracy, has begun fighting back.

Music companies, who have launched promotional drives to counter the
popularity of television, are asking radio stations to pay up higher royalty
fees and devising newer strategies to check piracy.

The Indian Music Industry (IMI), an apex group of about 50 music firms, says
it is "a delicate time" for the industry as it is "squeezed" from so many
sides.

The Rs.10.4 billion industry first took a major hit with the advent of
satellite television, but the radio has emerged as a bigger threat --
ranking only behind piracy.

The radio has returned to favour with most urban Indian homes since the past
one year, thanks to several FM (frequency modulation) stations that are
cashing in by dishing out a variety of music-based programmes.

"The ready availability of old and new music on radio is taking a toll on
sales of music cassettes and compact discs," says Swapan Gupta, general
secretary of Gramophone Workers' Welfare Union.

Feeling the pinch, music company owners moved Phonographic Performance Ltd.,
the government-backed agency monitoring music copyright safeguards, for a
hike in the royalty fees charged from FM stations for playing recorded
music.

The agency now has fixed a rate of Rs.1,200 for an hour of music from the FM
stations.

"This royalty is not only collected from private FM stations, but also from
the autonomous All India Radio," says R.V. Shikande of Phonographic
Performance.

The FM channels are complaining against the hike, but the music industry
argues the rates are just and take into consideration radio's burgeoning
market.

According to India's leading industry platform, the Federation of Indian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the advertisement share for radio
is on the rise.

It stood at Rs.1.6 billion in 2002 and is expected to grow to Rs.6.2 billion
by 2007.

In comparison, the music industry's total revenues fell from Rs.12.6 billion
to Rs.10.4 billion in 2002.

FICCI says music companies also suffered because they acquired rights for
big banner films at astronomical sums even when the film music business was
going through a rationalisation.

The unrelenting problem of music piracy has also increased. The IMI puts the
industry's loss because of illegitimate music at Rs.10.8 billion in four
years.

"No company, however big, can bear such continual losses, and if action is
not taken now, things will take a sad turn," Gupta says.

Besides launching awareness drives against pirated cassettes and CDs, the
industry is lobbying with the government for stricter punishment for piracy.

The IMI says only 191 offenders were punished for selling pirated music from
among 4,096 suspects arrested for the crime across the country last year.

The industry also wants the government to waive certain levies.

FICCI says the industry will have to pull up its socks if it is to grow to a
Rs.16.4 billion market by 2007 as is being hoped now.

--Indo-Asian News Service