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Gramophone name change linked to accord with EMI

Indrani Dutta

CALCUTTA, Aug. 13

WHEN a 99-year-old company decides to go for a fresh `namkran' ceremony, a few eyebrows are likely to be raised; but when the company turns out to be the user of one of the most enduring brands of the Indian corporate world, the gasps of surprise are alm ost audible.

Mr. Sanjiv Goenka, the Vice-Chairman of Gramophone Company of India Ltd (GCI), the RPG outfit which has decided to change its name and also its `His Master's Voice' logo, came prepared to face a volley of questions when he made the announcement to the pr ess last week.

Times are changing and the new generation -- arguably one of the bigger consumer segments for GCI -- has never seen a gramophone, Mr. Goenka said trying to explain the name change move.

To buttress his argument, he mentioned that for sometime now, the company has been looking for a new name which truly reflected the rapid changes in the technology of music reproduction since the invention of the gramophone.

According to him, a large number of people were interviewed after which the new name `Saregama' was selected. Does this mean that music lovers here and elsewhere in the country voted for a change? One would think not. No one would seriously subscribe to the view that, sans the change in name and logo, GCI would have been at a disadvantage as far as technological advancements and market penetration were concerned. Corporate watchers seem to pooh-pooh the argument offered by Mr. Goenka.

Enquiries made by Business Line revealed that the urgency to change name lay elsewhere. More specifically, is the issue relating to EMI, UK's ongoing tussle with the RPG group over the use of the names EMI and HMV.

The RPG group had acquired GCI in 1985 from EMI by buying 26 per cent of the shares. At that time, GCI was languishing and became a BIFR case soon after.

With the group patriarch, Mr. R.P. Goenka, himself a music enthusiast, a turnaround strategy was implemented and the company's fortunes started looking up. Several modernisation and capacity augmentation schemes were implemented at the Dumdum factory of GCI even as it went on an acquisition spree to expand is regional catalogue.

However, the climb-back was not without attendant risks. EMI started taking fresh interest in the company and was expressing keenness to increase the stake, which was then around nine per cent. It was also laying claim to the HMV, and of course, the EMI brand name.

This round of tussle ended with the signing of an agreement in April 1999 between the two companies which allowed GCI to use the HMV brand for the next 25 years for the existing catalogue.

The introduction of Saregama India Ltd as GCI's successor along with the decision on use of both the brand names -- HMV and Saregama -- for a while, has to be seen against the backdrop of these events.

Although 25 years is a long time, the RPG group is naturally keen to begin building its own brand without any further wastage of time and what better way to do it than piggy-riding on the HMV brand.