Lemme begin by stating that in India, music is not an independent industry but a part of cinema itself. Yes, independent artists/ bands exist, but they’re yet to gain significance in this cinema-passionate nation. However, music is often the most significant part of a film’s promotional campaign before release. Its a common practise for makers to release film’s tracks, one after another, to create buzz. As you can see, music is a vital entity in India. Having said that, how record labels function is a question that needs to be answered.

Traditionally, record labels were companies that manufactured music-playing machines. For them to sell more machines, they had to sign in and pay artists to make music. When a label signs an artist, it’s their choice whether to intervene in the artist’s work or fund the production. As years passed, labels became more of a music-distribution channells. When I say distribution, it’s the audio cassettes or CDs to retail stores. A bigger record label improves an album’s credibility levels and may lead to better sales.

With the rise of usage of smartphones and internet, buying music has become a thing of the past. Today, a record label’s primary job is to distribute music digitally to radio, ringtunes/callertunes & music-streaming platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, etc. In the West, labels coach/guide their artists through their careers and sometimes even fund them to make music. They make sure the artists register with the local performing rights organisations so they get publishing royalties. 

To reiterate, in India, music is not an independent entity and works alongside cinema. Having said that, here’s how record labels function in India. A film’s production company signs in a music composer, at a negotiated price, to compose songs & background score for their film. Once the music album is ready, the production team has to find a record label to release/ distribute it across the internet. The price at which a label acquires the film’s album is called Audio rights. Now that a label owns the album, they sell it to music streaming companies like iTunes, Spotify & YouTube. Its important to note that a record label has complete ownership over an album they purchased and can they can sell rights to reuse/remix the tracks without the composer/singer’s consent. Most artists and labels follow the method of profit sharing. For instance, T- Series following 50:50 sharing with the artist they signed in.

T-Series, a company headquartered in New Delhi, is India’s oldest and biggest record label that predominantly releases Bollywood music. Additionally, some other major labels in India are

• • Sony Music India

• • Zee Music Company

• • Aditya Music

• • Saregama

• • Tips Industries

On the flip side, small and independent labels also exist such as

• • Speed Records

• • Geet Mp3

• • Humble Music

Usually, the established labels offer higher pay but lower profit share to the artists. On the other end, independent labels pay better but offer a thinner profit percentage.

Jawan (2023)’s audio rights, composed Anirudh Ravichander, were bought by T-series for a whopping 36 Crore INR.