What are the main challenges facing the music industry today?
Monetisation of rights in an era of YouTube, Google, online piracy and free downloads is the biggest challenge for the entire entertainment industry. Piracy and royalty pay-outs by various entities are definitely major issues and we are working towards solutions while keeping the interests of all the stakeholders in mind. Though new media formats have replaced the loss due to the decline in physical formats, the growth from these is yet to be seen. For instance, in India, music companies barely get a 30 per cent share of the revenue from music sales such as ringtones, caller tunes and song downloads. The telecom operator keeps the balance 70 per cent. In developed markets like Japan [ Images ], the ratio is the reverse. We are negotiating with the telecom operators. Do FM radio channels pay royalty? How much do they contribute to the Indian music industry’s revenue? We are working very closely with FM radio in India and except for a few rogue channels, radio stations do pay up. Though
