Music on the move. A Telegraph picture

Mobile phone service providers are banking on music to boost their bottomline. With both GSM and CDMA companies coming up with affordable offers on hello tunes, caller tunes and now music on the move on any handset, it’s advantage music-lovers of Calcutta.

Airtel recently launched a service that allows subscribers to listen to songs of their choice on any handset for a fee. Following suit, Reliance Communications launched mobile radio services for post and pre-paid subscribers.

The national offers have found takers in Calcutta. “My phone neither has FM nor do I carry a portable media player. But I can still listen to my favourite tracks on the long commute to and from college,” said Rimita Sinha, who recently subscribed to the Airtel service.

The company, India’s largest mobile service provider, is trying to cash in on the boom with its library of over 10,000 songs, including over 3,000 in Hindi, spanning genres from devotional to pop.

“To avail of the service, the customer will have to dial 57777, a toll-free number. An automated system will guide him or her to the song he wants to listen to or send to a friend. The monthly subscription fee is Rs 30, which allows a subscriber to listen to songs for 100 minutes. A recharge of Rs 10 will allow the subscriber to listen to songs for 40 more minutes. The service is available on any handset model,” said Harish Gandhi, head of value-added services of Bharti Airtel.

The service comes with an intelligent tracker system that creates a playlist of the subscriber’s favourite songs, which can be accessed directly. About 10 per cent of the company’s turnover is generated by value-added services. Market estimates suggest that revenues from all kinds of music downloads will consist of around 30-40 per cent of the value-added service revenue.

Reliance Communications subscribers, regardless of the model of their handsets, can also avail of the service across the country. Those subscribing to the service for Rs 30 per month can listen to radio at Re 1 per minute by dialling 51234777. Non-subscribers can listen to mobile radio at Rs 3 per minute by dialling 51234778. Subscribers will have the option of skipping or replaying songs. The company is trying to provide content similar to that provided by regional language radio channels across the country.

Currently, subscribers download 25-30 million ring tones and hello tunes every month. About 20 per cent of the sale of music companies nationally is from mobile music downloads in a music industry.