MUMBAI: The three decade old Bhargava’s Musik has seen the transformation of the musical instrument (MI) market. From an age when it was an insignificant trade with negligible turnover- plying almost unplayable locally made instruments to the odd smuggled guitars and effects pedal to musicians- to a market that is today worth around Rs 340 crores.

Opening its shop during pre-liberalisation era in 1983, the Mumbai based company has been part of the sector’s quantum growth. Apart from selling an array of musical products- from pedals, guitars, drum kits and percussion instruments, keyboards and amplifiers, Bhargava’s also has its own range of ‘GB & A’ high end acoustic guitars that are manufactured from their plant in China. The guitar range, which includes 12-string guitars-, is retailed from Rs 4,900 onwards.

Radioandmusic.com caught up with Bhargava's Musik managing director Brijesh Bhargava for an update on how the iconic company is faring the age of liberalised market and online commerce.

Excerpts:

What are the changes that Bhargava’s has witnessed in the market in terms of inventory, revenue and turnover increase? Also kindly highlight how different were the needs of the customers from the 80s-90s era compared to today?

The market size has grown 25 per cent in the last few years. Customer wise, today's customer is well aware than they were in the 80s’-90s’. Our inventory between locally and foreign made MI and equipment is in the ratio of 20:80. We distribute a number of products for foreign brands out of which we keep a percentage of the retail price. We also have our own range of ‘GB & A’ acoustic guitars which are high end. We are currently selling them across India and have no plans yet to export them.

How supportive is your business to musicians, artists? Do you have any schemes for say, an amateur band, in terms of discounts etc.

We are what we are because of our approach towards musicians, music lovers. Our customers are from all walks of life. Once we had a musician who came to our store with no money. He needed a set of guitar strings worth Rs 26, which he promised to pay for after he recorded his work at the studio. At another end, we have industrialists worth Rs 500 crores as customers. They all share one thing- passion for music. We even had President Abdul Kalam visit our store- we presented him a Veena.

In today’s digital age, how have you adapted and leveraged the digital platform? b) Do you keep in touch with your customers in terms of feedback?

We take our online audience very seriously. Today, each and every person takes the time to patiently scrutinize the web for product reviews and basic awareness of products. We believe in doing that for the customers ourselves. Via social media platforms such as facebook and twitter, we strive to create an environment where a customer is fully informed of the products before even trying them.

(The company’s facebook page has a healthy 22,186 ‘Likes’ with regular posts and visits from musicians. The company also uses the page to announce competitions and sales, and post equipment reviews).

What is your company’s core business philosophy and can that be carried well into the 21st century? Any expansion plans?

We do not have a growth plan per se for the future. The motto of our enterprise has always been:

“Quality meets Value - beginning of a beautiful relationship,” so our objective is to maintain the tradition that has served us over the years into the future. We are also not too worried about things like the fall of the Indian rupee and how it will affect us with regards to our foreign merchandise. The unfavorable exchange rate is a temporary face.