Realising the threat posed by illegal downloading of music, record companies are taking steps to legalise this process. Saregama India, better known as HMV, has recently entered into a strategic partnership with US-based Divine Arts. Under this, Divine Arts will represent Saregama in licensing its extensive catalogue to download sites throughout the world.
The move comes a few months after Indian Music Industry (IMI the apex body of music companies) announced plans to set up its own portal. The IMI portal should be ready by the year-end.
Saregama isnt the first Indian company to take serious steps to ensure legal downloading. Tips, Crescendo Music and Inreco have all had tie-ups with Soundbuzz for digital distribution. But whats significant is that Saregama has a huge catalogue, especially in old Hindi film music.
Atul Churamani, Saregama India vice-president (artistes and repertoire), says Divine Arts will act as a mediator. It will help forward our music to real networks where customers can download legally by paying a price, he says.
Under this, RealNetworks will be the first company to offer digital music from the Saregama catalogue. Soon, more than 30,000 songs from the catalogue will be available through the companys Rhapsody Internet jukebox service and through the RealPlayer Music Store. Both services are available at www.real.com.
Interestingly, Saregama had earlier started the Hamara CD concept, whereby customers could order their own customised CDs containing songs of their preference.
Though Saregama and a few other companies have taken individual steps to ensure that their music is downloaded legally, the IMI believes that a common portal should offer a better option for customers.
Says IMI president V J Lazarus: We have been working on such a portal, and should be ready by Diwali. Were still working on the model and the pricing structure. Here, one can access music from any Indian record label. It will be like a shop, and basically, what we want to do is monetise the non-physical format of music buying.
With more people using the Internet to cater to their music requirements, such a portal seems a good way out.
