Dancing To A New Tune

For instance, Gramophone Company of India (GCI) has launched as many as 16 albums in the past 18 months. Then, in December, music company Mile- stone Entertainment launched MilestoneDance, the first dance label in the country. Later next month, Sony Music plans to introduce its global label, Dance Pool, in India.

Polygram India is also looking at this niche. Polygram says it internationally acquired Toco, a mass licensor of independent labels and a player in the dance genre, in March. So far, GCI has been representing Toco in India and claims it is still a Toco licensee. But Vinay Sapru, chief programming officer, Polygram India, says his company is planning to launch the label here. Also, Sapru plans to evolve a strategy for the niche after he attends Polygrams international dance meeting at Hong Kong on May 5.

All this attention is because the genre has been growing fairly rapidly. International music currently accounts for a mere three to five per cent of the estimated Rs 1,300-1,500 crore Indian music market. Dance music accounts for roughly 10-15 per cent of this niche, up from 5-8 per cent a year ago. According to Hiro Music Shop, a major retailer in Mumbai, almost half its international music sales are in the dance music category compared to 25-30 per cent a year ago.

The growth can be attributed to several factors. It is an emerging market as people are developing a dance lifestyle, says Shridhar Subramaniam, director, marketing, Sony Music.

For instance, Bangalores four nightclubs, each of which can accommodate 6,000-odd people, are packed at weekends. So with around, say, 25,000 people imbibing dance music for eight hours a week, there is clearly some attractive market potential.

Says Arindam Sengupta, manager, international music, GCI, Companies are focusing on dance music because it is the first point of contact with youngsters.

At the same time, todays youngsters are not loyal to any particular artiste. So one-offs work today, adds Rajeev Sharma, promoter and director, Milestone Entertainment.

Internationally, dance music emerges from and is dominated by independent labels. Like the group Los Del Rio, whose track Macarena was a huge hit, was discovered by an independent label. The albums may later be picked up by the majors like Sony or BMG.

So Milestone has chosen to tie up with independents -- its got six licensing tie-ups so far. These include MNW Records Group AB and Goldhead Music AB, both leading Swedish independent labels, and Interhit Records Inc, a dance label from USA that released Donna Summerss comeback single Carry On. It has just tied up with Beggars Banquet Records, UK, whose album Prodigy won the best British dance act recently.

But even as it grows in popularity, there is one danger. As Sharma points out, each dance product has a short life-span, the maximum being a year. Also, sales per album are small. HMV has sold around 5,000 copies each of its dance albums, which is considered good. Milestones Dance NRG has done close to 8,000 tapes while another album, Freebee has done 4,000. Only BMGs Aqua has grossed two lakh.

With sales being limited, the money you can make from such albums is limited. So spends are lower too and marketing it is not easy, says Milestones Sharma. But he expects the genre to grow rapidly for the next few years at least. So far, the demand is mostly for mainstream dance music. If the genre matures and the esoteric forms in the US and Europe catch on, the cash registers could soon be singing another tune.