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Mumbai, March 22: In a bid to grab a pie of the Rs 300-crore market for digital music in the country, Hungama.com today launched a music application which it claims will change the way users listen and experience music and videos across devices.
Though the digital entertainment arm of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd will take on established players like Saavn, Gaana and Dhingana who have their respective music apps, Hungama.com is confident that it will wean away traffic because of the unique features built into its app.
According to KPMG, the tax and advisory services firm, the size of the Indian music industry is around Rs 600 crore (excluding piracy) with nearly 50 per cent being accounted by digital sales. The segment is expected to grow with increased mobile consumption and individuals opting for services such as music downloads apart from other devices such as tablets.
Siddhartha Roy, chief operating officer — consumer business and allied services, said the company had in the past couple of years witnessed 17 million transactions in the digital music space. Many more are waiting to come into the mobile ecosystem.
Though there are various means where music can be obtained illegally for free, Roy says there does exist a market for paid music/video streaming and downloads. “The customer is willing to pay, provided the experience and the value is right,’’ Roy added. At the app launched today, songs can be downloaded for a fee of Rs 5 to 10.
According to Hungama, the app introduces, for the first time, a loyalty feature that rewards the individual for every action on the app. One can earn (and redeem) points every time videos are watched, played or shared. The points can be redeemed to download and own content, buy movie tickets, autographed merchandise, gizmos and get dinner dates with film stars.
Some of the other features include mood discovery, where one can find and play music to match his or her mood. The company added that yet another interesting element relates to integration of audio and video.
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