After 150 years, Furtados is an establishment in itself not only in the music world, but in the city of Mumbai- where it began importing musical instruments in 1865. Over the century, it has seen tremendous changes in the music industry.

Today, amidst foreign brands, franchises and growing domestic players, it still retains its place as a one-stop shop for musical instruments. It has also extended its presence by opening branches in 10 cities, partnering a number of music stores and having an online site for its range of musical products.

Beyond business, Furtados extends support to bands and musicians by giving platforms to record and distribute their work and give certifications in music education.

In a freewheeling tete-a-tete with Furtados Music India’s MD Phillip Rodrigues, Radioandmusic.com gets an inside view of the iconic company and the roadmap for the country’s music industry.

Excerpts:

Has there been a growth in the Indian Musical Instruments (MI) market?

There has been a study last year which was publicized in the press as well. The report mentions the market to be around Rs. 370 crores. However, this does not account for individual imports and that could add up to the market size considerably. The market has quite naturally, grown significantly since the 90’s. The 90’s saw the inception of imports of musical instruments and over the years, a plethora of brands and models have flooded the Indian market. The availability and competitive prices with reduced duties over the years have helped stimulate demand. Today, most major brands and models are available in the Indian market.

How is the market for the local manufacturers and foreign brands? Is there competition between the two or are they operating in different markets?

Local manufacturers stick to low end instruments and the few who are able to provide higher quality are export oriented. There is really no competition between the foreign and Indian brands as they cater to different segments and markets. The limitation in raw material and the economies of scale are still limiting factors for this industry.

As a company that sells a whole range of brands, do you have any plans to develop your own line of instruments?

We have our own line of instruments in certain categories and they are doing extremely well.

What are the challenges for musical industry today?

The industry faces taxation challenges, the rising shadow of overhead costs and logistical challenges. As this industry starts getting more organized and structured, it faces competition from the local smaller players who do not have high overheads.

How was 2012 for Furtados?

2012 has been a good year despite the slowdown in retail in the initial six months. We have seen our newer stores doing fairly well and additional channels opening up such as our online sales presence. We expanded our portfolio of products and were able to increase our customer base significantly.

Share your growth/ expansion plans for 2013.

We will continue to expand our retail network and develop newer customer experiences. We plan to offer customers better options and brands to choose from. We expect the retail business to be better than the previous year. The recent report on removal of octroi in Maharashtra is a welcome relief. We do look forward to the Government recognizing the cultural importance of the musical instruments industry and offering a favorable tax regime. With the rising economic sentiment, we can only hope for customers to increase their spend this year.

Something you would like to tell our readers.

We hope that learning music is considered an important development activity and this artistic pursuit is inculcated in all children for the purpose of making them well rounded individuals and honing their artistic and creative talents. I am encouraged with the growth in music education across the country and we now need the Government to recognize the importance of learning music in schools.

The growth in music festivals in 2012 is creating a tsunami of music. Even though electronic music seems to be the latest trend, this will have cascading effects on the overall music scene. More international artists are performing this year and the local bands stand to capitalize on this wave of live entertainment. If at any time one was contemplating to learn a musical instrument, now seems to be the time. Let’s encourage musicians as much as we encourage sportsmen/women.