The Hindi film music industry loses Rs 60 crore every year. While industry folk blame the profit drain on piracy, an overexposure of film music on television and radio is the obvious threat. The last three years have seen a 40 per cent drop in sales.

"Music enthusiasts have taken to the visual medium in a big way. We, at HMV, have lost around Rs 90 crore since 2002," reveals vice president Sa Re Ga Ma, Kulmit Makkar.

Mehmood Karmali of Rhythm House, a popular music store in Mumbai believes the decline also has to do with a lack of quality music.

"Film tracks lack originality. Only remix albums work today." In fact, producers like Vashu Bhagnani have had to launch their own music label to distribute individual film albums. "We had no choice. The music industry is in shambles. My label, Puja Music doesn't take on projects outside my banner," he adds.

Kumar Taurani of Tips Industries, a top music company in the country, says the drop was on account of having taken on only two releases last year, as compared to 12 releases on an average. "But the market scenario is depressing. We have lost 30 per cent of our investment in the music industry," he rues.

T. Series is perhaps the only company that continues to acquire the rights for new releases. "It's the introduction of TPPL (T. Series Public Performance License), an indigenous system of issuing licenses for music played in public, that has seen the company stay clear from losses," opines president, operations M.M. Satish.