In this exclusive guest column, Vinod Bhanushali traces 30 years of music’s evolution, from albums to streaming, and urges Indian labels to diversify revenue and harness data to thrive in the digital age.
If you want to feel old in this business, just try explaining the concept of a “cassette tape” to a young artist today. I’ve had a front-row seat to this evolution for over 30 years, from my time at T-Series to now running Hitz Music. I’ve held physical products in my hand, and now I watch songs become data streams on a screen. The journey of music,how it’s valued, sold, heard, and, most critically, paid for,is a story of dramatic transformation.
In the era of cassettes, and later CDs, value was tangible. We sold a product. You could walk into a store, buy an album, hold the cover art, and read the liner notes. For labels, the economics were straightforward: manufacturing, distribution, and retail. A hit album like Aashiqui wasn’t just a cultural moment; it was a physical product flying off shelves, with its value directly tied to units sold. As label heads, we were masters of a supply chain. The risk was high,unsold inventory was a direct loss,but the reward for a hit was substantial and clear.
But it wasn’t just about economics. Back then, music required effort. People had to step out to buy it, and they needed the right systems at home to play it. You couldn’t listen to a song anytime, anywhere. Music had a certain “appointment value.” Today, it’s the opposite. With the rise of technology and streaming platforms, music is available at a click, anytime, anywhere,whether it’s midnight in Mumbai or morning in Madrid. That convenience has completely altered the relationship between listener and song.
Another shift: with physical copies, a true fan would pick up an entire album, bring it home, and listen to every track. Skipping was rare. The experience was immersive, almost ritualistic. Streaming, for all its variety and access, has changed listening behavior. Fans are spoiled for choice and often skip a track within seconds if it doesn’t click. We hear more artists than ever before, but we listen with shorter attention spans. That’s both an opportunity and a challenge.
The digital revolution,starting with ringtones and downloads,began the dematerialization of music. But nothing prepared us for the seismic shift of streaming. Today, value is no longer a one-time transaction; it’s a continuous, microscopic trickle of royalties based on billions of streams.
From my perspective, and in countless conversations with fellow label heads, this shift is a double-edged sword. On one hand, streaming has been a great democratizer. It has given a platform to every genre of music, from the biggest Bollywood blockbuster to an indie folk song from a small town. The barrier to entry is lower than ever. The potential for a song to have a long “shelf life” and generate revenue for years is a modern miracle. Tracks that may not have been week-one hits can find audiences months,or even years,later.
On the other hand, the value per stream is a fraction of a paisa. This has fundamentally challenged our business models. The old equation of a hit funding several new projects is harder to balance. For labels, investment hasn’t decreased; artist development, video production, and marketing are still significant costs, but the path to recouping that investment has become more complex and volume-dependent. We’re no longer just selling music; we’re managing attention in an infinitely crowded marketplace.
So, what’s next for Indian labels? The conversation increasingly focuses on two key areas:
First, diversification of revenue is no longer optional,it’s a necessity. The future isn’t just about streaming royalties. It’s about sync licensing for OTT platforms and brands, branded content, live performances and touring, and direct-to-fan monetization via platforms like YouTube Memberships and social media. The song is the heart, but it must pump blood to multiple revenue arteries.
Second, we must become savvy data analysts. In the cassette era, we guessed what people liked based on sales reports. Today, we have real-time data on listening habits, geographic hotspots, and playlist adds. Labels that thrive will be those who use this data not to stifle creativity, but to intelligently market it, find niche audiences, and make smarter investments in artists with a proven, engaged following.
The value of music hasn’t diminished; it has transformed. It’s shifted from owning a product to accessing an experience. Our role as labels has evolved from manufacturers and distributors to talent incubators, data-driven marketers, and multi-platform rights managers. The journey from cassette to cloud has been tumultuous, but it reaffirms one timeless truth: a great song is priceless. Our job is to build a sustainable business around that truth for the next generation.