DesiPundit

Basab Pradhan writes a letter to the Bollywood music industry.

Most people want to buy music legally, if it is made simple and inexpensive for them to get it. Say this to yourself three times every morning after your morning prayers. And then think about your pricing strategy. There is a vast, relatively untapped appetite for Bollywood music amongst NRIs. If you just got rid of your pre-conceived notions.

Your current strategy has another flaw. It offers no legal way for Indians in India to download music.

Digital music in India is going to happen. I can easily visualize millions of portable music players in the hands of a young population with disposable income. With millions of music players in the market, how can there be no place where one can legally download music? iTunes + iPod together don’t work for India – too expensive – so that’s not an option. The way to make it work in India is to do what mobile handset manufacturers did – make it cheap and go for volumes. Matter of fact, it is quite possible that Nokia and Motorola might dominate the mp3 player market as well, as they include them in their cell phones.