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First online store for Indian music for NRIs

February 08, 2005 17:51 IST

San Francisco-based CrimsonBay Inc has launched the first online music download store dedicated to music from India and the Indian sub-continent.

The store will offer music from premiere labels such as Saregama India Limited, Ishq Records, Yatra Communications and many others, offering a catalog of over 40,000 songs.

The store currently offers Hindi content, including memorable songs from films such as Umrao Jaan, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Aradhana and artists such as Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Bally Sagoo and Rishi Rich. New content in other languages will be added on an ongoing basis.

The store offers a user-friendly interface for browsing and searching Indian content. The music is categorised by styles that are familiar to existing audiences, and the store allows searches by album name, song name, genre, language, music director, singer, actor, lyricist and movie director.

To the millions of Non-Resident Indians in the world who have access to broadband Internet, CrimsonBay.com will offer the ability to browse and download high quality music on demand.

Sunil K Singh, a member of the board of directors of CrimsonBay, Inc. and one of the principal investors in CrimsonBay, stated in a media release: "We envision CrimsonBay initially establishing itself as the premier online marketplace for Indian music similar to iTunes, and subsequently becoming the leading provider of digital downloads for all digital content from India-music, music videos, ring tones and films."

"We foresee tremendous potential in this space, driven by the popularity of portable devices such as MP3 players and Portable Media Centers. Service providers such as CrimsonBay will play an increasingly important and influential role in helping deliver this content to consumers," he added.

Dilip R Mehta, Managing Director of Saregama India Limited, stated, "We are excited about our partnership with CrimsonBay. Saregama recognises the increasing importance of the Internet for delivering music to consumers, and is pleased to offer its catalog on CrimsonBay, a site focused exclusively on Indian audiences. Consumers of Indian music will find it tremendously convenient to source so much of our catalog in one single place."

CrimsonBay.com is also working with satellite content providers and portable device manufacturers to create co-branded products that broaden its reach.

CrimsonBay, Inc. is focused on the distribution of content from the Indian sub-continent and was established to serve the increasing demand for music, music videos, ring tones and movies from this region.

The company offers a catalogue of over 40,000 tracks from over 1500 artists and is poised to become the premiere destination for listeners of music from the Indian sub-continent.