HOW
TO SELL
MUSIC
IN INDIA
SUMIT SHARMA
“Free”, It’s the most fascinating
keyword people use while
searching songs on internet and
it’s not good for artists. There
was a time when people used to
buy cassettes and CDs of their
favorite songs and artists; in
1994 Altaf Raja released the
album Tum To Thehre Pardesi,
which sold 4 million units. In
2000s, artists and bands like
Sonu Nigam, Adnan Sami,
Himesh Reshammiya, KK, Jal,
Euphoria and many other Indie
artists became popular and
sold millions of units but after
the digital revolution of music
industry in 2010s, the only thing
increased is Music Piracy. In
2010, famous Indie Rock Band
Indian Ocean released their
sixth album 16/330 Khajoor Road
online for free.
As of 2017, the number of
smartphones in the country
stood at 468 million, according
to Kantar IMRB the number of
internet users will reach 627
million by the end of 2019. So yes!
This is the right time to release
music online. But majority of
listeners still don’t buy music
online, so how to sell music?
In May 2017, Saregama launched
a retro device in the digital age,
called Carvaan. Saregama sold
1 million units of this portable
audio player in 16 months. The
key reasons behind its success
are curation of most played 5k
songs of Saregama on various
streaming platforms and
emotions, it’s a box of nostalgia
because of its classic design,
content and TG.
But what if you don’t have
hundreds of songs in your
catalogue ? And even if you have
a huge catalogue but not the
resources to sell or promote it?
So here are some ways to sell
your music in India (2019) -
Music Streaming Platforms
- Gaana has become the first
music app in the country to
cross 100 million monthly
active users (MAU) in March
2019. Apps like JioSaavn, Wynk
Music, Apple Music, Amazon
Prime Music, Hungama Music
with millions of MAU can give
you the listeners you seek. The
world’s most popular paid music
streaming service Spotify also
debuted in India with 2 million
active users. Music streaming
platforms can really help you
earn money through royalty
based on number of plays. These
platforms are now expanding
their businesses in regional
markets, so you don’t need to
worry about the language and
genre of your music.
IPRS – Indian Performing
Right Society helps Authors,
Composers and Publishers
of Music to legitimize use of
copyrighted Music by Music
users by issuing them Licences
and collect Royalties from Music
Users(Public Performances, TV,
Radio, OTT, Ringtone/CRBT),
for and on behalf of Authors/
Composers.
Events – It is difficult to sell CDs
and merchandise at festivals and
concerts but Delhi based music
platform Songdew came up with
the idea of selling music through
QR codes and surprisingly it’s
an effective way to encourage
people to buy music. If you
mention your social media
handles after the performance,
you can surely ask the audience
to buy your songs by scanning
the QR code. Just take a print
out of the QR Code and put it
in your event through standee,
marketing collateral or A4 sheet.
Sync-licensing - Music licensing
is the most efficacious way
to get your songs placed in
TV shows, movies, radio,
videos, commercials, etc.
Companies like CD Baby and
Tunecore help artists to place
their music in films and TV
shows through their licensing
services. There are many ways
to earn through licensing like
Covers, Hospitality(hotels and
restaurants), Retail (Malls and
clothing stores), Radio and TV
though cue sheets.
Apart from these fruitful ways,
you can also collaborate with
some brands to sell your music
by advertising their products,
Imperial Blue cassettes & CDs is
one of the most popular example
of it.
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