Digital music is all set to revolutionise music delivery and present itself as the next big opportunity for the Indian music industry. There are already some sites that allow the downloading of music from the Internet in some form or the other.

According to renowned research agency, International Data Corporation (IDC), the digital music download market size for Asia Pacific region - excluding Japan - is likely to touch Rs 230 crore in the year 2002, up from a mere Rs 51 crore currently and is further projected to touch Rs 656 crore in fiscal 2005.

Kumar Taurani, chairman and managing director Tips Industries, a leading player int eh Indian music industry, sounds very optimistic and quotes from the Arthur Andersen report to prove his point. According to the report prepared by the consulting firm for Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the size of the Indian music industry is set to grow to Rs 1,900 crore in the year 2005 from Rs 1,250 crore in 2001. Most of the growth expected to come from digital music.

Little wonder then that Soundbuzz, a digital music aggregator, with focus on the Asia-Pacific markets across India, Southeast Asia, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, has entered the market and has tied up for digital distribution partnerships with leading record labels in the country. These include Tips Music, BMG Crescendo, Lahari Media, EMI, Times Music and Archies.

These partnerships will enable Soundbuzz to offer a wide range of artistes' music and movie soundtracks such as those of Yaadein, Fiza and Mission Kashmir among others for commercial digital distribution through various distribution channels such as the internet, and wireless devices. To ensure that purchasing these labels by digital download is made very easy for consumers, all downloads sold through Soundbuzz's network will be secured using Microsoft's Media Rights Manager, which will also ensure payments to necessary parties.

Announcing the deals Sudhanshu Sarronwala, co-founder and chief executive of Soundbuzz said, "This is a landmark moment for the Indian music industry as Soundbuzz becomes the only digital music retailer to partner with leading Indian record labels for sale of secured digital music throughout India as well as Indians abroad. Through these deals Soundbuzz has access to over 50,000 current and catalogue songs ranging from Hindi film and Indipop to Tamil numbers."

Concurring with him, Mr. Taurani of Tips Industries said, "Our partnership with Sounbuzz has put us in lead position in the digital music space in India and across the globe and is definitely going to enhance our music sales as the digital music market across the globe picks up. We also look forward to capitalising on the pioneering decision Tips has taken for allowing the sale of its music catalogue via secure internet digital downloads. We have taken this decision because of our faith and confidence in Soundbuzz."

Reacting on the same lines Arun Arora, chief executive Times Music said, "Our partnership with Soundbuzz acknowledges the power of digital music, which remains a long term strategy for us."

Soundbuzz has also entered into a partnership with Tata Internet Services, a leading ISP, wherein it will retail/sell a part of its encrypted repertoire through TataNova.com. Commenting on the deal Mandar Thakur, director music and marketing Soundbuzz India told domain-b, "Our deal with Tata Internet opens up a new distribution channel for the marketing and sales of our digital music to their subscribers. It is an innovative way to push digital music sales and move the digital music market forward."

However not every one is as bullish. Acknowledging the potential of digital music Suresh Thomas, managing director BMG Crescendo (India) told domain-b, "We see it as a huge opportunity but the ratio of digital music to the traditional form of music the world over is miniscule, probably less than 0.01 per cent. The whole concept has yet to catch on especially in India looking at the low PC penetration and high cost of the net." Obviously Thomas also had the cost of downloading a single song in mind, which at about Rs 45 to Rs 50 per number looks steeply priced going by Indian standards. He felt it was a long road ahead to make the business profitable for the industry but "we have to start somewhere."

Mr. Sarronwala remains concerned about the pricing and places it among the three most critical factors for digital music to succeed. He said, "For the first time Indians are experiencing the singles market and pricing and flexibility will remain key issues." Another key factor, according to him, for the success of digital music in the country is the content for which he says, "good content will create demand."

Soundbuzz is also involved in the promotion and distribution of off-line and on-line digital music content produced by major and independent record labels and independent artists through various distribution channels such as TV, radio, internet and wireless devices among others.