REFLECTIVE
 REPORT
 –
 CULMINATING
 
EXPERIENCE
 
DIRECT-­‐TO-­‐FAN
 IN
 INDIA
 (Consulting
 Project)
 
Tanya
 Nath
 (Masters
 in
 Global
 Entertainment
 &
 Music
 Business)
 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

Table
 of
 Contents
 
SUMMARY
 OF
 THE
 PROJECT
 ...................................................................................
 3
 
THE
 PROCESS
 .........................................................................................................
 4
 
RESULTS
 .................................................................................................................
 6
 
Survey
 Analysis
 ...................................................................................................................................................
 6
 
Challenges
 Faced
 ................................................................................................................................................
 7
 
Market
 Analysis
 ..................................................................................................................................................
 7
 
Recommendations
 and
 limitations
 of
 PledgeMusic
 to
 expand
 to
 the
 Indian
 Market
 ..........
 7
 
Challenges
 faced
 .................................................................................................................................................
 7
 
NEXT
 STEP
 ..............................................................................................................
 8
 
CONTRIBUTION
 TO
 THE
 DISCIPLINE
 AND
 PROFESSION
 ...........................................
 8
 
IMPACT
 ON
 THE
 STUDENT
 COMPLETING
 THE
 WORK
 ..............................................
 8
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 .....................................................................................................
  10
 
APPENDIX
 ............................................................................................................
  11
 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

2
 

SUMMARY
 OF
 THE
 PROJECT
 

 

With the opportunity given at Berklee College of Music, I have been working on a
consulting project for my culminating experience. Ever since we were told about the
culminating experience, I knew that I wanted to do a consulting project.
I strongly believe in hands on learning and what better way to do that than working
with a company from the music industry. My topic for the consulting project was to
get a chance to work with a company from the U.S or Europe, which is looking as
India as one of the companies to expand to.
I felt this would be a good topic for me to work on as I have prior experience in
market research and survey and coming from India, I was familiar with the market
and how to conduct business there.
Several online streaming and digital companies are trying to internationalize to the
Indian market but a lot of research and time is required to analyze the culture of the
country and whether it will be a successful market for the company to expand or not.
One of the guest lectures at Berklee Valencia was by Mr. Benji Rogers, CEO of
PledgeMusic. PledgeMusic is a direct-to-fan online music platform that helps
musicians reaching out their fan base to distribute and pre-sell their music projects.
It’s a great way for the fans to the see the process of their favorite making music as it
happens.
He gave us great tips on start-ups with his personal examples of how he started and is
carrying out PledgeMusic. I was really intrigued by their business model and idea and
felt PledgeMusic would be a great company for the Indian market. I got the
opportunity to speak to Benji about my culminating experience and he was interested

 

3
 

in the idea. The idea was to do market research and analysis of India for the company
to see whether India would be good market for them to expand to or not.
So, I analyzed the cultural, legal and political aspects of the music industry sector of
India, which should be beneficial for the company. As before expanding to another
country, it is really essential to understand the regulations and cultural aspects of how
business is conducted in that country. I conducted the market research by doing a
survey analysis of the Indian market and then recommendations whether or not it will
be profitable for PledgeMusic to expand to India and under what circumstances.

THE
 PROCESS
 

 

Topic
 Research
 
Pitching
 the
 idea
 
Finding
 a
 Kirm
 
Benji
 Rogers’
 Lecture
 at
 Berklee
 

 
The
 first
 thing
 to
 consulting
 project
 was,
 which
 topic
 would
 I
 be
 consulting
 for.
 
With
  some
  research
  and
  past
  projects,
  I
  was
  certain
  about
  working
  with
  a
 
company
 that
 was
 looking
 at
 India
 as
 one
 of
 their
 potential
 markets.
 
 


 

4
 


 


 
The
  next
  step
  was
  what
  exactly
  what
  I
  be
  pitching
  to
  the
  companies.
  I
  wanted
  to
 
have
  a
  solid
  pitch
  as
  you
  only
  get
  2
  to
  5
  minutes
  to
  speak
  to
  someone
  from
  a
 
company
 and
 I
 wanted
 to
 make
 a
 great
 first
 impression.
 In
 my
 pitch,
 I
 used
 to
 ask
 
about
 the
 growth
 plans
 of
 the
 company
 and
 whether
 they
 would
 like
 to
 expand
 
to
  India?
  A
  lot
  of
  companies
  are
  growing
  really
  quickly
  and
  most
  of
  them
  are
 
looking
 at
 India
 as
 on
 of
 their
 potential
 markets
 due
 to
 high
 opportunity
 level
 in
 
the
 music
 industry
 in
 the
 country.
 I
 would
 then
 talk
 about
 why
 India
 would
 be
 a
 
good
 market
 for
 their
 company
 but
 can’t
 say
 yet
 if
 it’ll
 be
 profitable.
 
 

 
After
 I
 practiced
 my
 pitch,
 I
 tried
 to
 get
 in
 touch
 with
 companies.
 Initially,
 I
 was
 
looking
  at
  online
  streaming
  companies
  like
  spotify,
  deezer
  etc.
  because
  digital
 
streaming
 platforms
 are
 growing
 really
 quickly
 and
 I
 believe
 that’s
 the
 best
 way
 
to
 curb
 the
 issue
 of
 piracy.
 India,
 having
 the
 highest
 music
 piracy
 rate
 needs
 legal
 
platforms
 for
 music
 consumption.
 
 

 
After
 Benji
 Rojer’s
 lecture
 at
 Berklee,
 I
 was
 certain
 that
 PledgeMusic
 would
 be
 a
 
great
 company
 for
 the
 Indian
 market
 not
 only
 to
 curb
 the
 issue
 of
 piracy
 but
 also
 
act
  as
  great
  platform
  for
  emerging
  artists
  in
  India.
  I
  spoke
  to
  him
  about
  my
  CE
 
during
 his
 visit
 and
 followed
 up
 with
 him
 via
 e-­‐mail.
 He
 kindly
 took
 out
 time
 to
 
speak
 to
 me
 about
 the
 same
 over
 skype
 and
 took
 a
 look
 at
 my
 CE
 proposal.
 
 

 


 

5
 


 
RESULTS
 

 
SURVEY
 FOR
 MUSIC
 
FANS
 IN
 INDIA
 

SURVEY
 FOR
 
MUSICIANS
 IN
 INDIA
 

SENDING
 OUT
 THE
 
SURVEY
 AND
 ANALYSIS
 
 

MARKET
 ANALYSIS
 
SWOT
 

RECOMMENDATIONS
 
TO
 EXPAND
 


 

 


 

Survey
 Analysis
 


 

 
I
 conducted
 two
 market
 surveys
 –
 survey
 for
 music
 fans
 in
 India
 and
 survey
 for
 
musicians
 in
 India.
 I
 got
 21
 useful
 responses
 for
 the
 survey
 for
 musicians
 in
 India
 
and
  52
  useful
  responses
  for
  survey
  for
  music
  fans
  in
  India.
  This
  was
  after
 
excluding
  some
  of
  the
  responses,
  which
  were
  unrelated
  to
  the
  questions
  in
  the
 
survey.
  I
  sent
  out
  the
  fans
  survey
  on
  linked
  in
  pages,
  music
  forums,
  friends
  of
 
friends
 and
 music
 schools.
 As
 per
 the
 musicians’
 survey,
 I
 sent
 them
 out
 on
 music
 
forums
 and
 music
 school
 in
 India,
 which
 has
 collaboration
 with
 Berklee
 College
 
of
 Music.
 


 

6
 


 
Challenges
 Faced
 

 
! It
  was
  a
  little
  difficult
  in
  collecting
  responses
  and
  running
  this
  project
 
from
 Valencia,
 when
 the
 consumers
 were
 in
 India.
 
 
! For
  the
  fans
  survey,
  I
  received
  a
  lot
  of
  unrelated
  responses
  and
  seemed
 
like
 many
 people
 didn’t
 take
 the
 survey
 seriously.
 

 

 

Market
 Analysis
 


 
I
  conducted
  a
  cultural,
  legal/political
  and
  economical
  analysis
  of
  the
  Indian
 
market,
 which
 a
 company
 should
 keep
 in
 mind
 while
 conducting
 business
 there
 
and
  recommendations
  to
  adapt.
  I
  also
  conducted
  a
  SWOT
  analysis
  of
 
PledgeMusic
 in
 India.
 
 

 

Recommendations
  and
  limitations
  of
  PledgeMusic
  to
  expand
  to
  the
  Indian
 
Market
 
I
  analyzed
  three
  scenarios
  for
  this
  of
  whether
  PledgeMusic
  should
  expand
  to
 
India
  or
  not:
  optimistic
  scenario,
  pessimistic
  scenario
  and
  in-­‐between
  scenario.
  I
 
also
  mentioned
  a
  few
  limitations,
  which
  they
  would
  have
  to
  keep
  in
  mind
  and
 
analyzed
 the
 pricing
 range
 of
 willingness
 to
 pay
 of
 the
 music
 fans.
 

 
Challenges
 faced
 
! Pricing
  strategy:
  How
  much
  should
  the
  pledge
  products
  be
  priced
  at
  for
 
national
 and
 international
 musicians.
 
! Legal
 and
 Economic
 analysis:
 Foreign
 exchange
 and
 inflation
 rates.
 

 


 

7
 

NEXT
 STEP
 


 
If
  PledgeMusic,
  does
  expand
  to
  India
  in
  the
  future,
  I
  would
  like
  to
  get
  an
 
opportunity
 to
 work
 as
 there
 associate
 from
 there.
 

 

CONTRIBUTION
 TO
 THE
 DISCIPLINE
 AND
 PROFESSION
 


 

 
With
 the
 courses
 taken
 by
 me
 in
 my
 academic
 year
 at
 Berklee,
 I
 tried
 to
 put
 all
 
my
 learning’s
 into
 practice
 during
 my
 CE.
 With
 the
 International
 marketing
 class,
 
I
  learnt
  about
  market
  growth
  and
  PESTEL
  analysis,
  Intellectual
  property
  law
 
class
  taught
  me
  how
  to
  deal
  with
  the
  legal
  aspects
  when
  starting
  a
  business
  in
 
another
 company.
 With
 the
 entrepreneurship
 class,
 I
 got
 to
 brush
 up
 my
 survey
 
skills
 and
 the
 Economics
 class
 helped
 me
 in
 analysis
 the
 Economic
 analysis
 of
 the
 
Indian
 market.
 
I
 strongly
 feel,
 consulting
 projects
 are
 a
 good
 way
 for
 Berklee
 College
 of
 Music
 to
 
build
 a
 network
 with
 the
 companies
 we
 are
 consulting
 with.
 This
 project
 will
 be
 
really
  beneficial
  to
  my
  career
  as
  if
  I
  ever
  start
  a
  company
  in
  India,
  I
  can
  utilize
 
this
 knowledge
 of
 market
 growth
 in
 the
 international
 expansion
 of
 the
 company.
 
 

 

IMPACT
 ON
 THE
 STUDENT
 COMPLETING
 THE
 WORK
 

 
 

 
I
 got
 to
 learn
 a
 lot
 from
 this
 project.
 It
 not
 only
 taught
 me
 about
 market
 growth
 
but
  also
  enhanced
  my
  professional
  skills.
 
  My
  educational
  background
  was
  in
 
business
  administration
  and
  professional
  background
  was
  as
  a
  management
 
trainee
  a
  reputed
  pharmaceutical
  company
  in
  India.
  This
  project
  was
  my
  door
  to
 
working
  in
  the
  music
  industry.
  It
  was
  a
  hands-­‐on
  project,
  I
  got
  to
  work
  with
  a
 

 

8
 

professional,
 Benji
 Rojers
 who
 has
 extensive
 experience
 in
 the
 industry.
 It
 helped
 
me
  build
  a
  network.
  I
  also
  got
  to
  learn
  about
  the
  pricing
  strategies,
  of
  how
  the
 
products
  should
  be
  priced
  differently
  in
  another
  country
  keeping
  in
  mind
  the
 
exchange
 rates
 and
 customers
 willingness
 to
 pay.
 I
 gained
 knowledge
 about
 the
 
cultural,
  economic
  and
  legal
  analysis,
  which
  a
  company
  should
  do
  when
 
expanding
 

Hands-­‐on
 
project
 

to
 

Pricing
 
strategy
 
and
 
analysis
 

another
 

Marketing
 
growth
 
and
 
strategies
 

country.

Direct-­‐to-­‐
fan
 


 

 
I
  learnt
  about
  Direct-­‐to-­‐fan
  and
  personally
  lived
  the
  experience
  of
  pledging
  for
 
artists.
 Researching
 for
 the
 company
 since
 February,
 I
 have
 seen
 how
 quickly
 the
 
company
 is
 growing
 and
 would
 hope
 to
 get
 an
 opportunity
 to
 work
 with
 such
 a
 
reputed
 transparent
 company
 in
 the
 future.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 


 

 

 
1. "Music Business Research." Music Business Research.
http://musicbusinessresearch.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/is-streaming-thenext-big-thing-an-international-market-analysis/ (accessed November 29,
2013).
2. "Online Music Industry in India: A look at Past, Present and Future."
NextBigWhatcom. http://www.nextbigwhat.com/online-music-industry-inindia-297/ (accessed November 29, 2013).
3. "Saavn urges music industry to see streaming as India’s salvation." Music Ally.
http://musically.com/2013/08/01/saavn-urges-music-industry-to-seestreaming-as-indias-salvation/ (accessed November 29, 2013).
4.

International Branding & Marketing 1 (2013): 21.

5.

"Indians Will NOT Pay For Music? Wrong." NextBigWhatcom.
http://www.nextbigwhat.com/indians-will-not-pay-for-music-wrong-297/
(accessed November 30, 2013).


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10
 

APPENDIX
 

 


 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

11