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ShareMumbai: In the backdrop of slump in sales in physical format music in India, Finnish mobile handset maker Nokia will roll out virtual music store, specific to India by May. People would be able to access and download music on their mobile phones and PCs. The mobile handset major plans to start this venture on a revenue-sharing basis with music content providers.
A FICCI-KPMG study on the media and entertainment sector stated that the size of the Indian music industry has shrunk from Rs 830 crore in 2005 to about Rs 730 crore in 2008 due to 'erosion of sales of physical formats, a trend which is expected to continue well into the future.' The report further stated the industry will have to bank on revenues from digital distribution, broadcast, and public performance licensing to compensate for declining physical sales but also drive growth going forward.
The study states that Indian digital music market which was an estimated Rs 180 crore market in 2008 is expected to grow faster with the roll out of high speed 3G data services. "We are in talks with major music title holders in India. We also have plans to provide other content including video that can be downloaded from the site," said Vineet Taneja, head of marketing for Nokia India Pvt Ltd., a Nokia subsidiary in India.
Neither could Taneja immediately share names of specific music label firms he is in discussion with nor did he provide the revenue sharing details. The company is also talking to other content providers for movies like US-based Fox Entertainment and some sports content providers as well.
It is learnt that Nokia will launch the service in India, initially with a free one-year subscription on purchase of select Nokia handsets. In September, Nokia launched a similar service in UK for the first time on its 5310XpressMusic device. The service allows users to download and store unlimitedsongs and even after the subscription expires.
Nokia's competitor Motorola already has a similar service for India, Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asian region through its acquisition of Singapore based online music distributor Soundbuzz in January 2008.
