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News |  27 Aug 2009 08:43 |  By RnMTeam

Innovation key to future of music industry - Music Connects

MUMBAI: Innovation and out of the box thinking are the buzzwords that will help propel the Indian music industry to pinnacles of success. This was the essence of the range of panel discussions that marked the landmark day long conference Nokia Music Connects held in Mumbai on
Wednesday.

The first of its kind forum witnessed the presence of nearly all key executives and creative professionals from the music industry and its allied sectors from across the country, debating and discussing issues of vital importance to an industry that all agreed was on the threshold of massive growth.

Live music, digital formats, the great mobile revolution, advertising and its equation with music - all these and more topics came under the scanner as entrepreneurs, business heads of labels, ad gurus and industry veterans from across the globe parried ideas and offered solutions to an industry perceived as currently stagnant. As veteran industry player Seymour Stein pointed out, innovations and development of new models actually have the potential to drive the Indian music industry forward at a tremendous growth rate. There were others like musician Rabbi Shergill who lamented the suppression of independent music at the hands of media gatekeepers and those like Wizcraft founder Sabbas Joseph who bemoaned the high taxation structures that throttle the live music industry in India. But the discussions, ably moderated by industry professionals, finally veered to a variety of solutions - the encouragement of smaller, local bands, transparency by the telcos in reporting their figures regularly and the tapping of hitherto untapped commercially viable genres and formats.

The growing dominance of the mobile as a music playing device was discussed threadbare, with its potential to go beyond the current rage of caller ringback tones, its ability to explore the long tail of music with the search and explore features, and its potential value to the music industry from an estimated 440 million handsets currently in the Indian market.

Measures were also discussed how to harness the the nearly Rs two billion of advertising revenue that the music industry can tap through various means and increase its appeal the way the cricket industry has done in India.

Veterans like Seymour Stein, Neil Warnock and Rob McDermott offered their takes on the direction Indian bands, labels and independent musicians could take while narrating their own experiences in a global market.

Among those who were participated in the panel discussions throughout the day were IMI chariman Vijay Lazarus, Saregama vice president Atul Churamani, Sony Music managing director Shridhar Subramaniam, Hungama founder Neeraj Roy, OnMobile head Arvind Rao, Blue Frog's Ashutosh Phatak, Wizcraft founder Sabbas Joseph, Group M's Vikram Sakhuja, Universal Music managing director Rajat Kakar, Radio Mirchi CEO Prashant Panday, Tips managing director Kumar Taurani, and others.

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