The Hindu : Pirated MP3 CDs put music industry on a slide

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 29, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Pirated MP3 CDs put music industry on a slide

By Sudhish Kamath

CHENNAI. NOV. 28. The last three years have not been a song for the music industry. It has lost about Rs. 350-400 crores, with the proliferation of audio CDs in MP3 format and the increased popularity of pirated CD-ROMS. The national loss is estimated at Rs. 1,800 crores over the last three years.

There were times in the mid-1990s when popular albums sold more than 10 million copies. Today, even the most popular do not sell more than a million, according to Indian Music Industry estimates.

A couple of months ago, music labels under IMI launched a unique hologram, which would help consumers differentiate between the genuine and the pirated. "But as long as the audio MP3s are available at cheaper rates, why would the consumer look for the originals," asks a music company representative. The company recently shut shop owing to the audio slump.

Every three months, a compilation of all movie songs released during the season - a total of 150 songs - are sold in one CD in the MP3 format at Rs. 30. "The latest version has all Diwali releases," says a Ritchie Street regular.

This, despite frequent raids all around the year. And south India has the reputation of conducting the maximum number of raids and boasts of the highest number of convictions. Out of the 337 convictions, about 250 are from Tamil Nadu, according to IMI sources. It is another story that hardly any of the convictions span a period of over six months. The punishment is too mild, compared to the larger damage that runs into crores.

This year, the State police seized 27,892 CD units of MP3s compared to the 11,450 CD units last year. But, anti-piracy crusaders believe that there are over a lakh units available in the city's grey market every day. In Chennai, pirated CDs from Kuala Lumpur make their way onto the shelves regularly.

"With most of these also made available through the Internet, it is practically impossible for the police to crackdown on the pirates. Anyone going online can download songs free. The servers are too many and their bases located outside the country are out of bounds for the local police."

The latest addition to the existing menace of audio piracy is the emergence of smuggled and assembled MP3 players, which are available in the market for Rs.1,500 onwards. "The peddlers who used to hawk MP3s before, have now graduated to selling the whole set-up. Audio piracy is at the bottom of the priority for the police because these are considered soft crimes. Besides, the laws are too weak," a former police officer admits.

The worst-hit are the music companies. Many have already wound up, burdened by the 14 per cent tax levied on CDs and cassettes.

Films too have been cutting down on their music budgets and even in the number of songs. "Many films have stopped having lavish audio release launches. The producers create all the publicity, the pirates reap the harvest. It's pointless," a film music distributor explains.

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