Music Inc. Recap: Subscription-Based Model Is The Only Way Forward For Growth: Blaise Fernandes, The Indian Music Industry

Music Inc., the high-powered event presented by MTV and curated by Loudest.in and exchange4Media, kicked off earlier this month on he 12th & 13th June at JW Marriott in Mumbai. The conference brought renowned music and media industry stalwarts together. Among the various enlightening sessions was a talk by Blaise Fernandes, President, The Indian Music Industry who opened up on the opportunity in the Indian Music industry. Fernandes shared that a recent IFPI-PwC study reveals that remuneration to sound recording owner from radio broadcasters undervalued eight times their current levels. He also spoke about how recently the Indian music industry grew 27% to Rs 725.6 crore in 2017 from Rs 570.7 crore in the year-ago period driven by growth in music streaming revenue, according to International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) data. “The numbers will go up once we get in the paid ecosystem,” said Fernandes. He elaborated on how digital music is claiming a larger part of the pie in line with the global trends. Fernandes said that the initiatives which were undertaken by the government like Digital India, Bharat Net, Cipam’s #lettalkIP program have helped in a big way and will enable the Indian music industry to out-perform most evolved recorded music industries in the digital domain and climb up in rankings in the coming years. Fernades also addressed the issue of piracy and cited his learnings from a study conducted by IPSOS in India for IMI & International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The indications are that consumers in India listened to around 23.6 hours of music a week, ranking second highest in the world, after Mexico. “94% of users in the study admitted to piracy,” shared Fernandes. He also discussed the various opportunities for facilitating growth in the industry. “Growth will also be coming from the connected cars segment,” revealed Fernandes. “Subscription-based model is the only way forward for the industry to grow,” he said. News courtesy: http://everythingexperiential.businessworld.in/