ZEEL forays into the music label space with Zee Music Company

ZMC plans to acquire the music rights of over 20 major motion pictures in FY 2014-15.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) has made its foray into the music label space with its latest venture, Zee Music Company (ZMC).

ZMC plans to acquire the music rights of more than 20 major motion pictures in the financial year 2014-15.

The company has appointed Anurag Bedi, SVP and business head, niche channels, ZEEL, as EVP and business head of ZMC.

According to Punit Goenka, MD and CEO, ZEEL, the music industry is a large playing field and there is scope to explore the opportunity in this market. "Technology has also emerged as a key transformer of the music industry and digital revenues are driving growth in the market. Since we are a content company, it is essential to own intellectual property as content is the king," he adds.

Bedi believes ZMC to be a valuable addition to the business. He says, "It's a great space to be in, as music is something that is consumed universally. The Hindi film industry is currently in its best phase musically and there is a plethora of talent. We had been toying with this idea and finally we have entered this space."

ZMC has acquired the rights to the music of the Akshay Kumar-Sonakshi Sinha starrer 'Holiday' (to be released on June 6) which is jointly produced by Reliance Big Entertainment, Sunshine Pictures and Hari Om Entertainment Company. Future partnerships of the company include the big players - Dharma Productions and Excel Entertainment.

Besides, ZMC has also partnered with Fox Star Studios and signed up for the music of five of its Hindi releases for the year. The movies include 'Humshakals' (starring Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Ram Kapoor; to be released on June 20), 'Bang Bang' (starring Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif) and 'Bombay Velvet' (starring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma).

According to the figures provided by ZEEL, the music industry in India currently stands at a staggering Rs 960 crore, with projected figures of Rs 1010 crore for 2014. The industry is expected to grow over the years and reach Rs 1780 crore in 2018.

For the record, ZEEL is one of India's leading television, media and entertainment companies. It is amongst the largest producers and aggregators of Hindi programming in the world, with its library housing over 1.2 lakh hours of television content. With rights to more than 3,500 movie titles from foremost studios, ZEEL houses one of the largest Hindi film libraries.

Through its strong presence worldwide, ZEEL entertains over 700 million viewers across 169 countries including USA, Canada, Europe, Africa, West Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.