In what is a clear acknowledgement that digital distribution is the way to go, Saregama India, one of India's largest music labels, has inked a worldwide licensing agreement with the Home Entertainment Services division of Sony DADC (Sony Digital Audio Disc Corporation) for its physical business: Sony DADC will receive exclusive worldwide rights to the entire Saregama audio/video content library including its sales, marketing and distribution across physical formats like CDs and DVDs among others. Saregama, which has a library of 1.5 lakh songs (150,000 songs) across various genres like Bollywood, Hindustani Classical, Instrumental, Carnatic and Regional music in 18 Indian languages, will focus on the digital part of the business, and is also keeping the artists and repertoire (A&R) division. While the deal period or the financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, a Radioandmusic.com report suggests that the Sony DADC deal is for 3 years. Following this deal, Sony DADC claims to have the largest market share in the Indian physical content business in both audio and video. The company had previously secured home video licenses from Hollywood studios like Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE), Warner Home Video (WHV) and National Geographic in India. It also has the license for Sony Music content in India. Saregama Will Focus On Digital This deal seems to be in line with Saregama's recent focus on digital music sales and the company's declining physical music sales. As per a PTI report which cited Saregama India Managing Director Surya Mantha, digital format accounted for 70% of the company's revenues while physical sales…
