In Mumbai`s entertainment world and in Madras the profit of film music and cassettes pay for a large part of the costs of certain films even before their release. It is only possible because of the love that the Indian people have film music. Before a film is released its music is released so that the audience is familiar with its music.

Earlier when television was rarely seen in every household the main medium of popularizing the film songs was the All India Radio. Even today the music industry of Bollywood and that of the South receives ample support from radio and television programmes. These are the two most effective and economical way of promoting films. With help from these two mediums of communication it is possible to sell 10 to 20 million cassettes of a single commercial film`s music. One of the biggest examples in this respect is the 1994 Bollywood film, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun. It was the biggest box office success in the last few years with an estimated audience of 100 million spectators. It owes its success to its songs and dances that had attracted the audience to the theatres.
With passing time the records came into vogue and later the audiocassettes evolved. The Indian households went for a tape recorder rather than a transistor or radio or record player. This development proved quite profitable for the Indian music companies, which produce audiocassettes. Some of the leading companies were, HMV, Venus Records, Polygram, T-Series, Tips and several others.
Thus even more than in the `Golden Era,` composers and choreographers reign supreme in Indian cinema today. Since technology is improving each day the audiocassettes have been largely replaced by CDs and who could forget the Internet where the songs to be downloaded are a click away!
(Last Updated on : 15/01/2009)