MUMBAI: After being exposed to global music for over a decade, Indian indie-music especially the generic ‘Western’ music- that encompasses everything from blues, pop, rock, metal to electronica’- is growing. Today, regular festivals are being held everywhere- from the foothills of the Himalayas, the dunes of Rajasthan to the clubs of Mumbai and Delhi, and with this the evolvement of the indie music industry is spelling an opportunity for the Musical Instruments (MI) market.

While no proper study has been conducted on the size of the market, a report suggests that the MI market is set to touch $96 million by 2017. “With a majority of its 1.2 billion population under 30, the active population of India is around 500 mn. Within that there are 200 million educated young Indians who can afford to buy a musical instrument,” as per the report by US based Diversified Communications.

“India is an emerging market and in 12 years, India has witnessed tremendous upsurge in the growth of MI business. The Indian western music instrument industry is fuelled by rising levels of consumer income coupled by an increased interest in leisure activities. It is quite evitable that globalization and internet- have resulted in the change of taste(s) in music- influencing its musical instrument choices as well,” says Palm Expo and Musician Expo director  Ramesh Chetwani.

Western MI has seen popularity amongst the growing need of music in India mainly due to the popularity of online retailer and auction site purchasing. The number of live concerts and bands with the mall culture have also contributed in the popularity of western musical instruments especially in metros and big cities unfolding the opportunity for traders dealing in import and export of western musical instrument. Industry players believe that India can have a significant share in the international market in the next ten years.

But the exploiting market has been rapidly undertaken by foreign brands. Indian made musical instruments- especially the western musical market- who use to monopolize the market with cheap knock-offs of international brands like Fender, Gibson and Hofner are now struggling to survive the influx of the real instruments from abroad. The desi manufacturers lack the expertise, skill and technology to take on the competition.

“The Western musical instruments have definitely taken over 95 per cent of the market. The benefit of Indian instruments is only for foreigners who find them interesting, buy them and learn (how to play) them dedicatedly,” points out Furtados (Delhi) senior sales executive Bijoy Sarkar.

Compared to India’s situation where MI is more of a cottage industry, neighbouring China is already a major global player in the MI market and with its export of musical instruments clocked $1.521 billion way back in 2008. According to China's General Administration of Customs, the country's total export volume of cultural products from January to October 2012 hit 17.95 billion US dollars, an increase of 20.9 percent compared to the same period of last year.

And musical instruments are one of the spearheads of China’s cultural exports along with visual arts and print.

“(Even though Chinese instruments are hardly known for their quality) the day will never come when you can overcome China in production of instrument because they are really trained and good compared to Indian labours,” forecasts Sarkar.

The only area where Indian instruments still have a hold is in classical Indian musical instruments which are supported by Classical Indian institutes run by famous classical musicians.

The MI manufacturing centres located in Calcutta, Pondicherry, Chandigarh, Noida, Delhi and Bangalore mostly cater to foreign brands with the best products exported for brands like Fender and LP Percussions leaving virtually nothing for the Indian market.

“The cheaper instruments are for the poor students of India who want to play guitar. It is only with the case of affording it. My firm in Dehradun makes guitars of worth Rs 1 lakh which is a good guitar. India can make good guitars with quality and cheap guitars with low quality. Maybe when the market grows big we will make reputed equipments,” Sarkar says.

There are however initiatives to promote and support the domestic MI industry. The Musician Expo has provided a platform for MI companies since 2004 and has seen steady increase in visitors over the years. Expo 2012 saw 11,000 visitors up 19 per cent over 2011.

“The main objective of Musician Expo is to bring together the Musical Instrument (MI) industry in India and globally under one roof to cater to the ever growing need of the MI market in India. The 2013 edition, Musician Expo will provide an opportunity to the local musical manufacturers to showcase their products to the audience at a much subsidized cost of participation. This will not only open a gateway for the local manufacturers to come forward and display India’s culture in musical instrument but also provide them an avenue in meeting visitors across the country, those who show deep interest in our cultural root,” says Chetwani.

“There are lots of ways to strengthen India’s local musical instrument industry. We need more people with big dreams to manufacture in India and it (the industry) will become good one day,” says Sarkar.