Rediff now offers the radio

VENKATESH GANESH / Mumbai

Ajit Balakrishnan

REDIFF has tuned in to a new domain, one which was hitherto unexplored by an Indian online player. The company recently launched rediff radio in the US, the first online ‘licensed’ radio channels (two in number) with on-demand music streaming.

It is a subscription-based online service with a free seven-day trial version and a ‘no-strings-attached’ tag. The channels can be subscribed to for $4.95 per month or $11.95 per quarter. Says Ajit Balakrishnan, chairman, Rediff, “We are committed to providing our growing base of 30 million users innovative and premium products like Rediff radio to foster the growth of our online subscription base worldwide.”

The radio service uses a dedicated network of caching servers worldwide that are deployed at several points of presence in the US. This ensures fast and reliable streaming with quality audio output.

The service is targeted mainly at the Indian-American community. With a dearth in the availability of Indian music (licenced ones), the company reckons that this could be a major revenue generator. When questioned on the size of the Indian market there, Rediff refused to divulge figures.

Rediff will provide users with reliable streaming and clear voice quality (not an issue in the US, which has ample bandwidth). This, the company feels, is the right time to cater to Indian music connoisseurs with a range that spans 30 genres in an ad-free environment. Besides, there are interactive shows and weekly additions of new songs.

Future plans include exploring the regional music market as well as adding other genres like classical and devotional music. It would be interesting to see whether the company plans to tap South-East Asian countries with a sizeable Indian population (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc). These countries are rich in bandwidth and their Net access has moved beyond PCs to wireless devices like cellular phones and PDAs.

Online radio as a concept has not taken off as expected, but perhaps Rediff is banking on the low price-point as a USP to generate volumes and thereby drive revenues.