Carvaan is more about the convenience of listening to music, says Vikram Mehra, Saregama India

India's oldest music label and youngest movie studio Saregama India has four revenue streams viz. business-to-business music, business-to-consumer music, films and television serials. In fact, till last year it was primarily a B2B company but has now gone from zero to 15,000 retailers selling the music unit Carvaan. Vikram Mehra, MD, Saregama India Ltd, in conversation with Ashish K Tiwari, talks about the overall music industry scenario and brand Carvaan.

How is the current market scenario in the Indian music industry?

It's is doing well. After a decade of being on a downward spiral, we are finally seeing India on a growth path. The same is true for the global music industry too. If you see the recent third-party reports, the industry appears to be back on the growth path with music streaming becoming a big driving force. Streaming has helped us with two things – firstly, it allows us to slowly take care of piracy since people are getting a legitimate way to get a very decent quality music. Approximately 78% music consumption in India is through piracy, making it the highest when compared to any other country. However, we have started seeing a decline in piracy numbers everywhere.

How many music streaming platforms is the company part of?

In all, there are nine streaming platforms available in India and to make it customer's choice of whether to use it or not, Saregama music has to be available to everyone everywhere. No matter whichever route a customer decides to use, we ought to be available to them. The nine platforms include Saavn, Gaana, Hungama, Amazon, Google, Apple, Idea, Jio and Airtel. Apart from Saavn and Gaana, Wynk is among the top three platforms while Jio is coming out as a very formidable platform. With data becoming cheap, and everyone using a smartphone, streaming has become easy.

Introduction of the music unit under Carvaan was a smart move...

We conducted a qualitative study to understand music consumption behaviour, in 23 cities. People do not want to pay for music. Why are these people ready to pay for coffee, movies and popcorn at multiplexes but do not want to pay for music. The highlight of this study was that people above the age of 35 to 40 years in the non-metro area fear that the technology starts setting in and that too many complications are coming into their life. They would prefer something simple. All the insights gathered gave birth to Carvaan, which is less about music and more about the convenience of listening to music. We began manufacturing the unit in China and now have a manufacturing in Delhi as well.

A customer gets customised music, curated playlists, no ad-breaks and no repeats. Moreover, radio philosophy was all about the next song being unpredictable. It works under randomizing logic. In April 2018, we got 3.7 billion data points on how our songs are getting consumed globally – radio channels, streaming platforms, YouTube, etc. The last data was 2,000 crore data points and this study has led to the 5,000 songs on Carvaan so we can cater to individual biases too. The inherent thing is that there are no FM transistors. One reason to put the radio in Carvaan was that people listen to radio in their car. So a 40 plus can go back home and listen to music and news in the comfort of their house. People after retirement do not want to spend any money on themselves. By adding the bluetooth speaker to it, the sons and granddaughters can use it as well.

You recently launched a newer version. What's different in it?

In larger towns, there are people like us who are a little more comfortable with the technology. We still prefer Jagjit Singh, I love randomising logic but give me the option to choose. That's why we launched the Carvaan Gold. It allows you to choose the song you'd like to play. Everything is possible through an app now. And, for the first time ever, the speakers are from Harman Kardon. So, you get HK speakers along with 5,000 songs at Rs 15,000. The HK version is tuned and designed keeping in mind the newer music. So for a new song or old, the speakers are brilliant. Carvaan Gold thus becomes a default bluetooth and retro music player for home. The app allows the user to create his/ her own playlist. We also recommend new playlists keeping in mind the occasions and special days.

What kind of volumes have been generated on this product?

In the first 12 months of the launch, Carvaan has sold 600,000 units and the projection for this financial year is 750,000 units. This is only domestic. We have also launched the Carvaan in US, UK and Dubai but it is restricted to sale through Amazon. The focus is primarily India. We were a B2B company till last year. We have gone from zero to 15,000 retailers including consumer electronic stores such as Vijay Sales, Croma, Archies, large mobile handset outlets, Saregama.com, eBay, Paytm, Amazon, Flipkart, among others.