economy/businessturn the tableslPs are bacKThe gramophone era could be over, but a sizeable fan following amongst musicaficionados, serious audiophiles and collectors has led music companies to releasevinyls in several cities across India, yielding encouraging results, writes Ruchika Kher16 Pravasi Bharatiya June 2011
While international music on vinyl has itssmall but captive market, the indian film musicmarket is also doing well, take for example thesoundtracks of lagaan and Jodhaa akbarthis is how your grandparents listened to their music.Yet, in this age of itunes, iPods, DVDs and downloadablemusic, granny’s LP is making a surprisingcomeback to music stores. They may not be a rage,but LPs — or simply long-playing records on vinyl — aregathering a sizeable fan following amongst musicaficionados, collectors and serious audiophiles.To feed this eager market, many music companies havestarted manufacturing LPs. Prominent among them are:Saregama India Ltd., T-Series, EMI and Sony. This hasallowed the LP fans to bring the gramophone eraback to life once again.“There were two reasons for bringing the vinyls back —to make music available on Saregama across all availableplatforms and to revive this analog format of music, whichstill appeals to serious audiophiles and connoisseurs,” saysAdarsh Gupta, business head of music companySaregama India Ltd.“Saregama’s LPs are manufactured in Germany, on12-inch discs of 180 grams of lacquer. The audio from theold masters is digitally cleaned and bettered before cuttingthe LP mother shells. It is a perfect recipe for a wonderfulmusical session to re-live the glorious past. We are alsoselling LP players manufactured by the Netherlands-basedLenco,” says Gupta.In the LP format, Saregama has primarily come out withsoundtracks from old Hindi films. Enlarging the canvas ofgenres, they have also released LPs ofTamil and Bengali music in addition tothose of classical music. Priced between`800 and `5,000 a pack, vinyls areavailable not only in big cities like Mumbai,Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad, but alsoin small cities around the country.Music labels say that despite the price,consumer response was encouraging.“The response to LPs has been fantastic.Our target customers are audiophiles, music aficionados andcollectors. The sale figures vary from month on month, butthey are on the rise,” says Arjun Sankalia, director forinternational music and special products, Sony Music India.“While international music on vinyl has its small butcaptive market, <strong>Indian</strong> film music’s market is also doing well.Take for example the soundtracks from Lagaan and JodhaaAkbar. We are now evaluating the market for LPs of <strong>Indian</strong>classical music,” he adds.Saregama’s Gupta echoes a similar view: “The aggressivenessof both the dealers and retailers is quite encouraging,as their increasing orders are corresponding to committedsales without any returns.” Saregama sold more than5,000 LPs between March 2011-June 2011.At the moment, Sony Music India’s domestic repertoire inLPs include Lagaan, Vande Mataram, Jodha Akbar andRang De Basanti. The international repertoire is more elaboratewith Michael Jackson’s Thriller — 25th anniversary edition,The Or and David Gilmour’s Metallic Spheres, BobDylan’s The Witmark Demos (4 LP Box Set), Bruce Springsteen’sThe Promise, Kings of Leon — Come Around Sundown,Oasis’ Time Flies, AC/DC’s Back in Black, Highway toHell, AC/DC- Live, Ozzy Osbourne’s Diary of a Madman, Blizzardof Ozz — the 30th anniversary edition — and classicalbums from the likes of Miles Davis, Johnny Cash,Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley.Music aficionados and collectors are very happy withthe development and are looking forward to grab theircopies. “It is good to know that LPs are back. I was happilysurprised when I saw one of those Lenco LP players ata mall in Mangalore (in the southern <strong>Indian</strong> state ofKarnataka) a week back. I plan to buy an LP player verysoon. But I hope the prices come down to make themmore affordable,” says Deepankar Shah, a 59-year-oldbusinessman in Mumbai.Even the new generation wants to explore this old way oflistening to music. “I have known about LPs but never got achance to have one, or listen to one. But now that they areeasily available in a music store, I will definitely go and picka few up. It is so cool,” says Pranit Pal, 19.July 2011 Pravasi Bharatiya 27
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