Sony Music Entertainment buys strategic stake in Infibeam

Sony Music Entertainment buys strategic stake in Infibeam

NEW DELHI: Sony Music has bought strategic stake in Infibeam Digital Entertainment (INDENT) with Infibeam holding majority stake in the company and Sony Music holding a 26 per cent stake post completion of transaction.

 

INDENT with its clear strategic focus will offer an attractive platform to large and medium music labels in India and internationally. Any music label or brand holding rights to content can use the INDENT platform to engage customers and monetize by distributing digital as well as physical content under their own brand with payment integrations.

 

Sony Music Entertainment President India and Middle East Shridhar Subramaniam said, "INDENT fills a need gap for all music rights owners. As the digital eco system keeps evolving, there has been a strong need for an independent technology company that music companies can partner with to build innovative services and offerings. Every content owner has aspirations to reach consumers and brands directly. INDENT empowers these labels with a scalable and commerce ready platform."

 

Infibeam founder & CEO Vishal Mehta added, "INDENT continues to build state-of-the-art inclusive digital platforms powering music applications installed on millions of mobile phones and high quality experience to music lovers.  It will enable brands, technology and music on common interface with innovative customer engagement models."

 

Last year, Sony Music partnered with the new range of Sony Xperia Smartphones to launch 'Sony Music Jive' - a first of its kind music service that allows consumers to download and stream music from the Sony Music Catalog of two million songs, which was powered by INDENT. Post the successful launch of the Jive application on the Xperia smartphones in India, the same application was launched in Indonesia, North Africa and Middle East markets.  The service was also extended to Sony VIAO laptops in 2013.

With large repository of music content, INDENT will continue developing applications for many large labels and brands with integrated Telco billing, OEM bundling and social platforms. Currently, INDENT offers its service to Sony Music, INRECO (The Indian Record Manufacturing Company), to name a few.  INDENT is projecting revenues of $3-5million in current year.