Marathi films' makers not keen to promote music in the market

Say there are no assured returns
With over 150 Marathi films being released in a year, disappointingly, the films' makers have not been able to promote and sell the music. Sources in the industry say there are 'no buyers' and most makers are not keen to market the music CDs.
Producer Abhijeet Gholap, who released Sat Na Gat's music with Sachin Tendulkar has decided against releasing the music CD commercially.When contacted, Gholap said, 'The film which will release in September has only two songs, so there is no point in making a CD.'
Interestingly, director Amar Gupte (Hridaynath with Jackie Shroff) highlighted the fact that even though makers spend astronomical amounts during the music launch, they have no money to spare for CDs in the market. 'The production house does not compromise during the music release, but when it comes to promoting the music, they turn a deaf ear,' he said.
There are several producers like Gholap who do not believe in promoting the film's music and making it available to the audience. Films like Ranbhoomi, Kuni Ghar Deta Ka Ghar, Fekam Faak, Maajhi Shala, Premsutra, which released this year, do not have any music available in the market.
Music composer Saii Prasad (of Saii-Piiyush duo) said, 'We want our music to reach our audience. It is disappointing when your hard work is not available in the market. Also we need to increase the price of CDs. 30-40 for a Marathi music CD is not worth the hard work.'
It is surprising that even when Marathi filmmakers rope in singers from Bollywood, there is no effort made to ensure that the music reaches the market. In fact, there is no effort to ensure that the music is promoted through CDs or a digital medium as well. 'Most producers and filmmakers lack planning. There are production houses who sell the music rights of the film 15 days before the film's release. How can we ensure the popularity in such a short notice,' said Nanu Jaisinghani, owner of a music label.
But there are filmmakers like Tejas Deoskar who are unhappy with the way music labels promote their music. Tejas, whose film Premsutra was associated with a major music label said, 'We had limited CDs distributed by the label. After a point, they weren't interested in promoting it.'
According to a source from the industry, there is no transparency between the music label and the film producers. 'The deal is usually done on a sharing and percentage basis. They either bring out a handful of CDs during the launch or create digital space for the music. But in such cases, there is no confirmed figure for the returns. Also, you cannot track how much money is made online. Thus, in such situations the producers prefer not bringing out a CD or release the music online,' the source informed. The source further said that the producer's decision is made on the fact that there are hardly any buyers for Marathi music and the returns are usually not favourable.