Do you have a cassette player / Walkman at home? What was the last time you bought a CD / DVD / Blue ray for music?
Well, it’s not difficult to assume your answers simply because the way we have been consuming music is changing very frequently. It is the era of digital music and social sharing, where torrents help you connect with other computers on world wide web and download music to your system.
In fact, even the music player in my car is hungry for CDs, as I always plug in my 8GB data drive that has more than 1000 songs organized in folders of my choice. It is even possible to connect music players to mobile devices and play music via Bluetooth.
Spending Rs. 500 for purchasing a CD/DVD on new music monthly is not something many would want to do, when pirated (or original) music is available online for free or for fraction of a price. Spending a few dollars on your favorite internet radio with live streaming is a much saner option.
Music directors have been requesting to buy original CDs of their music, I feel sad on their frustration as they are just trying to restrict our freedom to download and not trying to analyze how these free downloads can be monetized instead. Their calls to consumer for buying original CDs has gone to deaf ears!
Nowadays even filmmakers have started to understand that with lenient cyber laws in India, it is futile to even ask audience to buy original CDs as downloading digital music is more of a smarter option than calling it a theft/piracy.
For example, the music tracks of film F.A.L.T.U, directed by Vashu Bhagnani were launched only on digital platform – http://iamfaltu.com allowed viewers to pay reasonable amount and download music.
Priced at Rs 40 for album and Rs 10 per song for digital tracks is a wonderful idea as this is what the F.A.L.T.U’s target audience is used to; listening to digital music and pay only reasonable. I believe this would have helped FALTU’s team to shoot up revenues like never before and at the same time cutting down the costs of CDs and their distribution. Thereby, enjoying huge bottom line and saving the environment.
It is my earnest request to music directors to make music available in digital formats and make it legal to download because when one buys a CD it gets difficult to find a software, convert in different formats, and then listen in mobile phones, iPods and laptops; however that’s not the case with digital music. Infact, it is better to find ways to monetize digital music which the millennial generation is comfortable with.
What say ?