Having tasted success with the introduction of ‘Carvaan,’ a digital audio player loaded with recorded music, Saregama India Ltd. (SIL) is now planning more such “disruptive“ products,” according to RP-SG Group chairman Sanjiv Goenka.
“We are planning more such innovations and disruptive products,” Mr. Goenka said, declining to elaborate. Sporting the retro look of a Murphy transistor radio — a brand owned by SIL — ‘Carvaan’ offers the ease of listening to pre-loaded songs at the touch of a button.
One lakh units
Unveiled in October 2017, it is raking in good revenues for SIL with sales growing at a fast clip. “We will touch one lakh units by July [from the current 80,000 units a month],” he said. Distribution is online and through 11,800 outlets.
There are two versions: the regular, which can play 5,000 songs, and the mini.
It also has an inbuilt radio and is positioned as a gift, mainly for seniors not too comfortable with music cards and ‘playlists.’ “It is a marriage of physical presence and digital content,” he said, adding that exports were also on the cards.
“Saregama’s biggest asset is its three lakh-song repertoire [in 36 Indian languages],” he said. Erstwhile EMI(Gramohone Company of India’s earlier avatar) recorded its first song in 1902 sung by Gauhar Jan. India’s first movie song for Alam Ara , the first talkie is also in SIL’s archives alongside countless legendary melodies which have a strong recall with the 40-plus age group population being targeted by SIL. Despite owning such a treasure-trove, SIL was hit hard by the onset of digital music consumption through the various online platforms and also the telecom industry and its cheap data tariffs.
“Three years ago, I was struggling to find the revival and the reinvention path, trying to figure out how to deliver music through a relevant platform,” he said. SIL profit after tax (PAT) rose 205% in FY18 from ₹10 crore a year ago to ₹30.5 crores on a revenue growth of 66 %
In addition to monetising its IP content, it is also building new IP through new song acquisition in Hindi, Tamil and Marathi and generating TV content in Tamil and low-budget thematic films (average ₹5 crore) targeted at youth, using digital platforms.
