Facebook signs licensing deal with century-old Indian music label

Saregama India

03/06/2020 06:59

BENGALURU, June 3 (Reuters) - Facebook Inc  FB.O  has signed
a global licensing deal with one of India's largest music
labels, allowing users to choose from a large catalogue of
Bollywood music for their Facebook and Instagram posts, the
music company said on Wednesday.
    Shares of Saregama India Ltd  SARE.NS  shot up 20% on the
deal.
    The music company, which did not disclose the financial
details of the deal, said Facebook and Instagram users can now
add music from Saregama's catalogue of more than 100,000 songs
spanning 25 languages to their posts and "stories".
    The Kolkata-based company, which sold vinyls and cassettes
under household name HMV for decades, is India's oldest music
label and released the country's first ever studio-recorded song
in 1902. 
    Its catalogues include popular albums and singles from some
of the country's most successful artists, including Bollywood
singing legends Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar.
    The deal will "allow people on our platforms, globally, to
use their favorite retro Indian music to further enrich their
content," said Facebook India's director and head of
partnerships, Manish Chopra, in a statement.
    Saregama's deal with Facebook follows its licensing deal
with Swedish music streaming service Spotify  SPOT.N , announced
earlier this month.
    Shares in Saregama surged to 334.65 rupees in Mumbai before
hitting a so-called "upper limit" in morning trading.

 (Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar;
Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
 ((saisachin.r@tr.com; +91 80 6182 2754; Twitter: @sachinr27;))