Case Study

Gramophone Company of India (A): The digital distribution challenge (Abridged)

10 pages
September 2000
Reference: IMD-5-0567

Gramophone Company of India owned the largest catalog of Indian music, dating back to the early 1900s. During the 1990s, in a remarkable turnaround, the company went from government-supervised bankruptcy protection to a return to profitability. However, in 2000, Gramophone was faced with the challenge of the Internet and digital distribution of its music content. First, Gramophone had to decide whether it should launch a website and e-commerce operations for each of its four divisions, or if it should attempt to integrate the various sites. Second, Gramophone also considered selling its music content via the Internet. If the company decided to pursue direct music sales to its customers, there were several other decisions to be made. Should it sell pre-recorded CDs or sell made-to-order customized CDs? Should these Internet efforts target Indians living in India or Indians living abroad? How should any direct Internet sales be priced? And, what impact would direct sales have on its traditional distribution channels? Further complicating Gramophone’s decision was the fact that e-commerce in India was still in its infancy. India had just 10 million telephone lines, and only 2.7 million of the country’s 1 billion inhabitants had Internet access. Moreover, only 2 million people owned credit cards.

Keywords
Distribution, Internet Marketing, Music
Settings
India
2000
Type
Field Research
Copyright
© 2000
Available Languages
English
Case clearing houses
IMD case studies are distributed through case clearing houses. In order to browse the collection and purchase copies please visit the links below.

The Case Centre

Cranfield University

Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]

Harvard Business School Publishing

60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]

Asia Pacific Case Center

NUCB Business School

1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Discover our latest research
IMD's faculty and research teams publish articles, case studies, books and reports on a wide range of topics