Facebook said on Wednesday that it has entered into a global licensing deal with one of the world’s oldest and India’s largest music label, Saregama. Although the financial details of the deal have not been disclosed as of now, the music company said that Instagram and Facebook users can now use music from Saregama’s list to their posts, stories and even Facebook profiles. Shares of Saregama India Ltd shot up by 20% thanks to the deal.
Saregama is a century old, Kolkata based music label which offers more than 100,000 songs spanning 25 languages and various genres. It released India’s first-ever studio-recorded song in 1902. The label is a reservoir of Indian classics including music by the likes of legends such as R.D. Burman, Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey and more. The platform has an uncountable list of genres ranging from popular movie soundtracks to devotional music.
“We are pleased with this partnership as now millions of Facebook users will be able to add music from our vast catalogue to stories and videos they create and share,” announced Vikram Mehra, Managing Director of Saregama India
Last week Saregama also signed a listening deal with Swedish music streaming company, Spotify.
Interestingly, Saregama itself serves users with its own piece of hardware, termed ‘Carvaan’. It is an old transistor radio-shaped music box with a collection of thousands of classic old Indian hits, including re-runs of some of the most loved old-time radio shows. It will be interesting to see how Saregama markets the Carvaan going forward, considering the fact that a Spotify subscription would cost considerably less than the Carvaan music box.
Facebook maintains similar deals with other popular music labels in India like Yash Raj Films, Zee Music Company, and T-Series.
Commenting on the partnership Manish Chopra, Head of Partnerships at Facebook India said“At Facebook, we believe music is an integral part of self-expression and bringing people closer together and creating memories that last. We are very proud to partner with Saregama that will allow people on our platforms, globally, to use their favourite retro Indian music to further enrich their content on our platforms,”
