Mumbai, December 9: It'S scoring music in a fresh way. The release of a singles album before the launch of the main album - that is what Sony Music has done for the film ``Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani'' becoming the first record company to do so in India. The singles album features apart from the lead track ``Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani'', three additional remixes, all mixed by DJs like Akbar Sami and Bally Sagoo from India and Partners in Rhyme in UK. All this for a price of Rs 45 and Rs 245 respectively for cassette and CD.Says Sony Music's director marketing Shridhar Subramanium: ``The idea was to let the singles album act as an opening for the main album as well as the film. The result is that we are selling two products for the same soundtrack.'' And why remixes of the same song in the singles? ``The remixes allows the flexibility to play the song in a multiple environment thus catering to different set of people,'' adds Subramaniam.
The singles album was released on December 1, 1999. An initial stock of one lakh units were put in 8,000 stores across the country. Subramaniam guestimates: ``The retail offtake should be about 70-80 per cent of the initial stock in the last eight days.''
Internationally, the concept of releasing one or two singles before the launch of the main album has been a trend since the fifties. While the main song is played on radio and television, the remixes are a favourite at bars and discotheques, says Subramaniam. Taking a clue from that, Sony Music released the main album on December 8, 1999 with 8 lakh units. They are priced at Rs 55 and Rs 295 for cassettes and CDs respectively.
The company plans to launch another singles album in January 2000 with another song of the same film accompanied with remixes. Says Subramaniam: ``In this way the involvement of the customer is higher with the product. It is no longer that a person buys an album listens to it for a few days and forgets all about it. Here he is constantly in touch with the soundtrack for some or the reason.''
The film ``Phir Bhi Dil Hain Hindustani'' is the debut film of Dreamz Unlimited. The banner has been jointly floated by Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and Aziz Mirza. Dreamz has pumped in as much as Rs 15 crore into the film. Apart from the innovative marketing strategy adopted for the soundtrack, the movie has a lot of firsts to it - the title song which is being aired on all music channels since November 25, 1999, showcases the full track for the very first time. The movie also focusses on the association of major corporate sponsors like Pepsi and Swatch Watches in finding a perfect brand fit with the product.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.