The music industry should be doing very well. India has plenty of talent. Just look at the number of song and dance shows on television. The interest is there. Movie songs often determine a films box office performance. And even before a movie makes it to the cineplex, the music can becomes a nations anthem.

So why is it that a media report by PwC states that the music industry will grow by 1% per annum till 2010?

The India Music Industry (IMI) estimates that the extent of piracy is Rs 6.5 bn each year. Our industry is largely made up of film songsabout 40% of the total industry size, according to IMI. If I want to download a new movie song for free, I can do it easily. Many sites let me stream it or download it to a place on my laptop where I cant find it easily. Some others let me download and store it happily. I can burn a CD and give it to my friends as well. The Internet, P2P networks, CD writers, plunging costs of media and storage space, ripper softwarepiracy never had it easier, better, or cheaper.

That is where the problem lies. These are incredibly more efficient methods of procuring, organizing, listening to, and sharing music. To listen to one song, I dont have to buy the entire album or a movies soundtrack, I can just buy that song. I dont have to step out of my door to buy it. Its right there as I work, and chat with people halfway across the world. And I dont have to go near my music system to play it. I can listen to it as I jog, or do anything else inside or outside home!

Shyam Malhotra

Piracy never had it easier, better, or cheaperthe (music) industry has to evolve new models to navigate the Net. It has to use the technology and make people pay for it

And the industry has been trying to fight them. That will simply not work. Sales of audiocassettes and CDs are stagnant at best. There is no doubt that they will remain under pressure. Even in an Internet-sparse country like India.

The industry has to evolve new models to navigate the Net. It has to use the technology and make people pay for it. And, sadly, one does not seem to be seeing too much happening in India. The online medium is being used to an extentto sell CDs. It is like a racing car being transported on a bullock cart. There are some small efforts by individuals or small organizations. But money and technology muscle is still to be deployed.

There is more action happening at the international level. Digital rights management (DRM) was touted as a good model, but that has now changed. People dont want to be locked into subscription services that offer limited flexibility or choice. Early last year, EMI unlocked its digital music catalog from the DRM mode because they found that only one out of ten users preferred to go the DRM way. Amazon MP3, which is available to only US users, has DRM-free tracks from all the biggest labels. The iTunes model has gone down very well with listeners. SpiralFrog runs a free music download service riding on ads. Qtrax claims to serve you free music through ad-supported P2P networks. Artists are experimenting with ways of using digital to their advantage. Some allow the download of a song or two to give listeners a taste of their latest album. Last year, the band Radiohead launched their latest album In Rainbows online and asked listeners to pay the price they liked. By some reports, 38% of downloaders paid an average of $6.

We have not yet seen such experiments. Clearly the music industry in India has to stop protecting the past revenues. It also has to define the future revenue streams.

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