Download Geet gaata null! In the beginning there was a dog, its ear cocked for

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In the beginning there was a dog, its ear cocked for the sound of his master's voice. Dogs don't live to a
ripe old age and this one soon lost its monopoly over Hindi film music. Boom time began and almost 40
companies entered, creating a highly competitive market.
But all booms must go bust and today, there's just a handful of players left. “The ‘stakes are very high.
Only the really brave or the really cash-rich can survive,” says Taran Adarsh, editor of the industry's vade
mecum, Trade Guide. “Music piracy is killing the industry. That is also why several music companies have
shut shop in the last few years. In the pirated market audio cassettes are sold as cheap as Rs 10-20. It's
no surprise that Tips Music has bought the catalogues of both Time Music and Weston Audio.” Tips
(owned and run by Ramesh and Kumar Taurani) is still a player. Also hanging in there are T-Series
(owned and run by Bhushan and Krishen Kumar), Venus (owned and run by the Jain brothers), HMV,
Sony Music and several smaller companies including Polygram and BMG-Crescendo, both of which are
more actively involved in producing non-film and pop music as against film soundtracks.
The market for film music, however, has only expanded. “Music is something that is in every Indian's
blood,” Adarsh insists. “And film music is easily its most accessible form.” Statistics reveal that the market
for film music has increased considerably in the last few years. While earlier, audio cassettes were
available at only music stores, today film soundtracks can b bought at your local paanwala. In the past
music companies often shelled out big A bucks to purchase the audio rights of a film. That has changed a
little now.
While companies like Tips and T-Series continue to pay several crores of rupees when purchasing the
audio rights of major films, other companies often purchase audio rights on a commission basis or on a
minimum guarantee basis. On the commission basis, a music company merely releases audio cassettes
for the producer, and sets aside a commission on each unit sold, while the rest of the price per audio
cassette Is handed over to the producer. This procedure is followed mostly in the case of soundtracks
that music companies are not sure will go on to become big successes. This helps minimise the risk of
spending several crore rupees on a not-so-promising soundtrack.
On the other hand, often top producers insist on handing over the audio rights of their films to music
companies on a commission basis because they are confident of the music's success, and wish to keep
the largest share of its sales for themselves. Yash his soundtracks to HMV on a commission basis, and is
said to come away richer by several crores. The minimum guarantee deal means that a music company
pays a certain amount of money to a producer for the film's audio rights. This covers the sale of a specific
number of units that the company is confident of selling. A royalty amount would be paid to the producer
on all sales over the guaranteed amount of units.
According to trade analyst Amod Mehra, “Sony Music has bought the audio rights of the Shah Rukh
Khan-Juhi Chawla produced Rs 3.5 crores on an MG agreement.” Mehra also reveals that the Rajshris
have sold the audio rights of their opus, Hum Saath Saath Hain to HMV for a whopping Rs 6 crores, on
an MG agreement. Meanwhile, Tips Music has, allegedly, paid Subhash Ghai a fat Rs 4.25 crores
outright, for the audio rights of Taal, which has music by A R Rahman. “When a music company buys
audio rights, the money they pay depends on various factors other than the quality of the music — the
filmmaker, his star-cast, the buzz all play a part in deciding how much money changes hands,” Mehra
explains. Therefore, the audio rights of a film like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam with a talented director
(Sanjay Leela Bhansali), a top financier (Jhamu Sughand), an impressive cast (Salman Khan, Ajay
Devgan, Aishwarya Rai) and a good music score was purchased by T-Series for a relatively modest Rs
1.5 crores simply because the music director, Ismail Darbar, was a first-timer. Meanwhile, all the
companies have gone into film production. The hoped-for synergy just didn't materialise. The grass, It
seems, remains greener on the other side of the fence.