On Wednesday, in a statement Facebook Inc said, it has signed a global licensing deal with one of India’s biggest music labels. The deal allows consumers to select songs from Saragama’s gigantic catalogue of Bollywood music for their Facebook and Instagram posts.
With the news of the deal reaching the market, Saregama India Ltd’s shares surged by 20%.
Although Saragama did not disclose the financial details of the deal, it stated, Facebook and Instagram users can now add music from Saregama’s catalogue of more than 100,000 songs spanning 25 languages to their posts and “stories”.
Kolkata-based Saregama, which sold vinyls and cassettes under household name HMV for decades, is India’s oldest music label and released the country’s first ever studio-recorded song in 1902.
Its catalogues include popular albums and singles from some of the country’s most successful and accomplished artists, including Bollywood singing legends Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar.
The deal will “allow people on our platforms, globally, to use their favorite retro Indian music to further enrich their content,” said Manish Chopra, Facebook India’s director and head of partnerships, in a statement.









