Techzone inks strategic deal with Times Music to boost VAS revenues
MUMBAI: In an attempt to boost its VAS revenues, Techzone the aggregator, developer, publisher and distributor of entertainment content, has inked a strategic deal with record label Times Music to create devotional based WAP and CRBT products.
The tie-up will allow Techzone to access the label’s devotional content and service it to operators like Reliance, Tata, Loop, MTS and more. The deal will also enable users to acquire Times Music’s rich repertoire of ghazal, Sufi, indipop and fusion content across WAP platforms.
Speaking about the deal, Techzone director Naveen Bhandari said, "We are always exploring opportunities to innovate in use of technologies to ensure supremacy in the competitive VAS space. The market for devotional content is emerging as an important category in VAS today and we are targeting leadership position in this niche which approximately has a market size of Rs 600 crores. The sheer range of devotional music available with Times Music and our reach and expertise in the VAS arena is a potent package.”
Today, the demand for devotional value-added services is rapidly growing especially in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. About 60 per cent of the mobile content downloaded is in local languages. "India as a country rides high on its traditional and religious sentiments. People here show their faith in God by worshipping various deities. We understand our users, and with this service, we will be able to cater to all their devotional requirements,” Bhandari added.
Claiming to have some of the highest selling devotional and spiritual albums in India, Times Music COO Mandar Thakur stated, "Times Music has devotional content for every major Indian deity and festival celebrated in the far corners of India. The content has been doing exceptionally well for the past three years and we've see a huge growth in its demand. Hence the challenge for us now, was to ensure availability of this content to every mobile user. This is exactly what we hope to achieve through this tie-up with Techzone."
Earlier, Techzone had inked entertainment distribution deals with international music channel 9XO and FM station Radio City for easy availability of their content on WAP platforms.