Music streaming drove 27% growth in Indian music industry: IFPI

The total music industry revenues grew from Rs 570.7 crore in 2016 to Rs 725.6 crore in 2017. This increase in revenue by Rs 154.9 crore is the largest since 2011, according to IFPI data. The revenues from music streaming grew at a rate of 37.26 per cent and revenues from digital music now amounts to over 91 per cent of the Indian recorded music industry revenue. There were two primary factors driving this positive growth in digital music consumption: increased data consumption in the advent of cheaper data rates and greater smartphone penetration. 

The digital revenue alone in 2017 was Rs 665.6 crore, which is greater than the combined industry revenue of Rs 570.7 crore in 2016 by almost Rs 95 crore. 

Shridhar Subramaniam, President, Sony Music and Chairman, IMI, is optimistic about the state of the industry and says, “Last year’s figures were phenomenal and we were expecting the market to do well this year as well, but a 27 per cent growth in 2017 has exceeded our forecasts. Going into 2018, our aim is to make music even more accessible, affordable and unlimited. To sustain this growth the industry will start laying the groundwork for a subscription eco-system .” 

The upward trend in adoption of music streaming services has certainly helped digitalise the recording industry, but is not yet steering consumers away from consuming music from pirated websites. Stream-ripping remains a major threat to the music industry in India. According to a 2017 study by IPSOS for IMI, 94 per cent of the 900 surveyed music consumers in India admitted to using some form of piracy to access music. 

Blaise Fernandes, President and CEO, IMI, said, “Our story in the past two years has been one of success as evident from an exponential growth in revenue. We’re glad that digital music is claiming a larger part of the pie in line with the global trends. Various initiatives undertaken by the government like Digital India , Bharat Net, Cipam’s #lettalkIP programme will enable the Indian music industry is to out-perform most evolved recorded music industries in the digital domain and climb up in rankings in the coming years.” 

There has also been a small shift from ownership to access and downloads to subscription in the last two years. With international players like Amazon Music entering the market this year, the industry stakeholders plan to steer consumers towards affordable subscription plans to deliver unlimited high-quality content. 

“While the 2017 figures may paint a pretty picture, the Indian music industry is still greatly impacted by digital piracy and value gap,” pointed out Vikram Mehra, Managing Director of Saregama. “We must work together in curbing piracy through a multi-pronged approach, involving various stakeholders at the state and central level. We must also empower the rights holders to allow them control of the usage of their works in the digital domain and protect their right to fair remuneration. That’s the only way for us to ensure continued double digital growth in the coming years.”

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