MUSIC COMPANIES ON THE INTERNET

Where would you get all the information about Colonial Cousins, the behind-the-scenes scenario of the group, their profiles, a list of their albums, their forthcoming releases, all at the touch of a button? On the Internet, of course. Indian music companies have finally caught on and begun to make their presence felt on the Net. Recently, HMV became the first company in India to set up its site in cyberspace. BMG-Crescendo and Magnas-ound have followed suit. Needless, to say, international peers Sony Music International and PolyGram International are already online.

The companies use these sites to create awareness among music lovers mainly NRIs and people of Asian origin living abroad. The sites offer company profile and information about its artistes. One can tune into a favourite artiste’s number or learn about the company’s forthcoming releases. In short, here is everything you wanted to know but did not now where to start.

Try the 30-second video clippings of BMG’s music videos. Or tune into Magnasound’s top artistes like Alisha or Daler Mehendi’s chart-buster tracks. Even acccess A.R. Rahman’s Vande Matram or Celine Dion’s hit single, Tell him from her latest album Let’s Talk About Love on Sony International’s site.

However, these sites only provide information. A user can’t download the music from the site or place an order through the Net. According to Sunil Menghrajani, Vice President, Special Project, Magnasound, their company was the first in India to introduce Streaming Audio on the site. Streaming audio is like listening to the radio. As soon as the user dials the site he can listen to the music over the phone. However, the user can only listen to the audio. “In India we are not ready, yet, for direct on-line sales,” he says. According to Mengharajani, the infrastructure for on-line sales is still not available in India. Besides, the Indian government does not allow the use of credit cards on the net. “The net, for the moment, is only for information dessimination".