BERLIN: "Even if the music business is not doing well on a national scale in Germany, the country's capital - Berlin is doing very well thank you," the mayor of Berlin Harald Wolf said at the opening ceremony of Popkomm.

He said that the Berlin music industry has been insulated from the world of piracy and digital downloads. "Berlin still has around a thousand companies offering employment to tens of thousands of Berliners," said Wolf. The turnover it generated was in the region of a billion euros, he pointed out, adding that it supports the entire value chain, right from artistes to record labels to retail outlets. "Berlin stands out for that."

Indeed it does. There's definitely something the Indian music industry can learn from Berlin. Sadly, the entire Indian music industry does not even register half of that turnover for a country of a billion people. Is the IMI, the Indian HRD ministry and music professionals listening?