Radio stations are a threat to the music industry

6 December 2007

The music industry had expressed the negative effects of the increasing number of radio station on their sales. The worst blow was taken by the Punjabi record industry, where there had been a boom in the FM channels operating in the state.

"Sales of Punjabi music have already been hit by piracy. Also, if a person moving around in a car gets to hear music without paying anything, he would not purchase the cassette or a CD. All this shows in numbers. There were times when a cassette, which sold 20 lakh copies, was recorded a super hit. Today, anything which sells around 10 lakhs is considered a bumper hit", says Plasma Records Managing Director Deepak Bali.

Director of Radio Mantra Rahul Gupta states, "Radio is a great facilitator to introduce new music or even old music, which the industry might have not been able to promote on its own. I think the music industry should look at the west (US and UK) where the radio has existed forever now and more stations have been added. Even with the existence of thousands of radio channels, the physical sales of music have seen constant growth".

Protests against the low royalty rates being paid to the music companies had also been raised by the music industry. Gupta expressed that the royalty rates are exceedingly high and that radio operators have been in negotiation with the government and people from the industry to lower the rates.

He also added that the music industry is overpaid, compared to the royalty figures of the US, Germany, New Zealand, and Australia.