| Chawla
further adds: "Our relationship with the music industry is a symbiotic one
and I hope that this gesture builds a relationship of trust and friendship between
us." Chawla
feels that radio channels have been unfairly treated thus far by the music companies.
"We
are like the goose that lays golden eggs. But if you think you'll find tonnes
of gold if you cut us at one go, I'm afraid you're mistaken," Chawla adds. Meanwhile,
sticking to its pledge of fighting piracy, Radio Mirchi has again asked the music
companies to come forward and provide content for the FCT that it has offered. Mirchi
had said that the FCT could be utilised by the music companies to launch a massive
awareness campaign against piracy, for which advertisements need to be generated
by the companies, which they have not done till now. "We
are open to the companies' suggestions in our fight against piracy. We have made
our offer and it is now up to them to respond," Radio Mirchi CEO Prashant
Panday told Indiantelevision.com. Panday
says the FCT offer - which had been a call for action made at the Ficci Frames
meet earlier last month in Mumbai - is spaced over a period of 12 months and is
still available to the companies unconditionally. "We
haven't specified a deadline for the music industry to avail of this offer. But
in the end if they do not respond, we will carry out this fight alone," Panday
adds. The
AROI has been dealing with this fractious relationship with the music industry
on the issue of double royalty, and looks upon the Mirchi offer as a tool for
clearing the deck for negotiations. Accordig
to Chawla, radio stations pay two types of royalty - one as copyright and the
other for 'performing fees' - and that eats into, on an average, 16 to 20 per
cent of their revenues in larger cities. "Although
for stations transmitting in A+ category cities the percentage would be around
nine, and may not be that big an issue for operators there, the stations in smaller
cities are having a difficult time. They have to shell out up to 87 per cent of
their revenues for royalty," Chawla continued. Asked
why the two interdependent industries haven't come to a consensus on this issue
so far, Chawla says, "The music industry is split within itself, and that
could perhaps be a reason why they haven't been able to do much about piracy."
He explained
that the music industry has its own organisation Phonographic Performance Ltd
(PPL). But T-Series, the top player in the industry, is not a part of the body. "I
feel the music industry has been myopic, for they see that almost 90 per cent
of the content radio stations air is music, excluding advertisement that is, but
this may not last forever," he held. The
radio industry is expecting news and current affairs to be allowed on private
FM stations once the Third Phase of FM licensing comes through. "When
that is implemented, and if the transmission guidelines are eased, I wouldn't
be too surprised if some of the stations don't play music at all," Chawla
conjectured, hinting that would give them a more level playing field. The
India Today Group, in which Chawla is a senior official, owns and operates Radio
Today's Meow station that hardly runs music. | 
