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Music companies
in India have not yet reached a decision on the issue of over-exposure
of music videos on the music television channels and are scheduled
to meet again over the next couple of weeks to decide on their next
move. The issue pertains to airing of promos on ETC, B4U Music and
Zee Music among others. The industry has been of the view that too
many promos have had a huge impact on their sales and has been holding
deliberations over the course of action for the sector as a whole.
“The single largest concern is that sales of music cassettes
and compact discs have dropped in an already troubled market,”
said a senior official in a music company.
At one stage,
the industry was contemplating taking the promos off the air to
address this issue. According to Saregama India’s executive
director Harish Dayani, the issue is being discussed at various
levels. “We have been meeting film producers and television
channels to see what can be done,” he said.
The issue has
gained worrying proportions in the light of music companies not
having seen too much success for quite sometime now. “While
the cost of acquiring the rights to Hindi films have fallen dramatically,
there has not been any significant upsurge in the business,”
explained sources in the industry. “Overall, there has to be
a mechanism to restrict the supply of music to ensure the indu-stry
is back on track,” they said. Sources added that the entry
of private FM operators was also eating into their business.
Over the last
few months, the cost of acquiring the rights to films has fallen
dramatically. From a peak of Rs 12 crore that Universal Music paid
for Devdas or Rs 7 crore that Sony Music paid for Lagaan, several
deals today are being struck on a royalty basis. Producers therefore
receive a percentage of sales that is committed instead of the earlier
system of huge outright payments.
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