By Eric de Fontenay, MusicDish e-Journal
Music industry professionals may not think of Russia as a high-growth market for international expansion. That oversight though may representative loss opportunities for music companies looking to buck the present recession.
The Russian music industry made it's presence felt at this year's MIDEM as the spotlight country, and for good reason. Outside of Germany, Russia represents the largest internet population in Europe with 40 million surfers. Add to that fact that it is the 4th largest mobile market (after China, U.S. and India), with growing physical (10% increase in 2007) and digital sales, and the allure of the market for music companies worldwide is clear. "Russia is in a phase of rapid expansion and on its way to becoming a major player and an essential partner for the rest of the industry," noted MIDEM director Dominique Leguern.
Cornwall-based independent record label Aardvark Records is one of the companies taking full advantage of this emerging market's possibilities as it announced an agreement with Russian mobile content and service provider United Fun Traders (UFT). UFT, which supplies one of the biggest Russian mobile operators with music content, has licensed over 700 songs from the label's catalogue, including songs from dance acts Yahel and the gold-selling EricM, rock act Little Spitfire, singer-songwriter Everett Young and folk acts such as Steve O' Connor, Satya Graha and Moondragon.
"With a market of that size, everything is to play for," noted Aardvark Records director, Alex di Savoia on the label's practical expectations from the deal. "Conservative sales estimates from UFT will see a significant impact on our net sales revenue.
Russian dance music fans are already familiar with some of the artists on our label; namely Yahel, DJ Front and Zetan Spore. With the strength of sales, we're anticipating being in a position where more of our artists can begin touring Russia."
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