Saregama tunes into Carvaan, banks on nostalgia value

At a time when smartphones and digital devices have disrupted the way we listen to music, popular label Saregama is seeking to turn the clock back with its radio-cum-music player Carvaan that is pre-loaded with 5,000 evergreen Hindi songs.
With golden hits of the 70s and 80s from legendary singers such as Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd Rafi and Kishore Kumar, the company, once known as the Gramophone Company of India, is seeking to tap customers in the age group of 35 years and above.
"These were the groups, which bought our CDs and cassettes. Now all those homes would find a new convenient way of listening to music," Saregama India MD Vikram Mehra told PTI.

The company has designed Carvaan in the old radio style while incorporating modern features such as USB port and Bluetooth, allowing listeners to choose their preferred songs.
Caravan is priced at Rs 5,990.
When asked how confident was the company of Carvaan to succeed considering the change in consumption pattern of music in the new digital age, he said: "We at Saregama believe that still lot of scope is left in the physical world."

He further said: "Our focus is to ensure that this music goes to people through every means possible. We would not take a judgemental call that this is right or that is wrong."

Optimistic about Carvaan getting good response from the market, Mehra said: "We are retailing it from all major e- commerce portals and multi-brand modern electronic stores such as Croma and Reliance Digital and other conventional TV and electronic stores."
The company has already put a network of 100 distributors and 1,200 retailers and has plans to double it to 2,500 before Diwali focusing on large and small towns.
Mehra, however, said that in order to keep pace with changing times, Saregama has also focused on the digital medium.
"We are growing a lot digitally... It is helping us not only to expand in the Indian market but also in foreign shores, where people of Indian diaspora are present in large numbers," he added.

The company has a catalogue of over 1.17 lakh songs in 14 languages and would keep on adding new titles from Hindi and Tamil films, along with devotional and classic music in all languages, he said.
"Our focus is on creating newer and newer music while finding alternate ways to retail that music to the customers, both in the digital world and the physical world," he added.
The company had a turnover of Rs 217 crore in FY 2015-16 and the music industry in India is estimated to be around Rs 900-1,100 crore, Mehra added.