The label is trying an innovative track – allowing use of its timeless classics for recreations, while it negotiates acquisition of new film music, finds Anita Iyer
Audiences lapped up Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s recreation of Apni toh jaise taise, Pritam’s restyling of Disco Dancer and the reworked Yaad aa raha hai in Golmaal 3; not to mention Pardaa, where two timeless classics were merged in Once Upon a Time In Mumbai.
2011 is likely to witness more such reworked versions – Yamla Pagla Deewana which retains the original Rafi version and Pritam’s remix of Dum Maro Dum will hit the screens soon.
And Saregama, the behemoth with the best old film music catalogue in the country, has woken up to the fact that it needs to milk the trend more wisely.
The label saw a 15 per cent growth in the licenses issued for use of old classics in films and television commercials in 2010. During this time, Saregama issued licenses for around six- seven films last year, including Golmaal 3, Once Upon a Time In Mumbai and House Full.
In the last two years, the label’s old catalogue has contributed to more than 80 per cent revenues to Saregama’s bottom line. Producers say they pitch for these songs because of the high recall value and the instant attention these songs grab. The number of downloads and airplay these songs fetch lend credibility to the filmmakers’ belief too.
Recognising the demand for its evergreen catalogue, the music label now plans to piggy back on the retro catalogue to enter the acquisition game aggressively.
Explaining the strategy, Saregama new media publishing head Gautam Sarkar says, “This would protect our vast catalogue from getting diluted. It is difficult to tap telecom operators across the world to check how the producers plug the track. There is no way to distinguish the retro number from the revised number as both titles are named similarly.” The label had in the recent past asked some producers to rename the renewed track to avoid ambiguities. 2011 will now see Saregama making a comeback in the music
Acquisition biz after a sabbatical of two years. The first album released by the label is No One Killed Jessica, which boasts a score composed by Amit Trivedi. Unveiling the label’s plans, Saregama CEO Apurv Nagpal adds, “Instead of giving out licenses of our timeless classic catalogue, we would like to acquire the audio rights of the upcoming film and mark our entry in the acquisition game.”
This seems to be a win-win situation for both the producer and music label as this will uncomplicate the exploitation of the restyled track, while Saregama retains the rights of the original. Apart from Bollywood classics, which form almost 85 per cent of its licenses, Saregama also licenses out its Tamil, Telugu, Bangla and Punjabi catalogues.
