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Saregama
Saregama India Ltd is an Indian music record label and content company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the oldest music label in India, established in 1901 as the Indian branch of the British Gramophone Company. It later became a part of EMI, and for several decades, used the His Master's Voice (HMV) trademark on its releases.
In 1985, the company was acquired by the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. Although the HMV trademark continued to be used until 2003, the licensing agreement with EMI ended that year. Saregama also distributed EMI's international releases in India during this period.
The company is involved in music publishing, film production under the brand Yoodlee Films, and the creation of multi-language television content. It also manufactures and sells Carvaan, a digital audio player pre-loaded with classic Indian music.
Saregama is listed on the NSE and the BSE. Besides its head office in Kolkata, it has regional offices in Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi.
In 1901, the company began operations as the first overseas branch of the Gramophone Company (later EMI from 1931), by recording the first song in India. It was incorporated in Calcutta (now Kolkata) as The Gramophone and Typewriter Ltd. The following year, Fred Gaisberg, assistant to gramophone record inventor Emile Berliner, arrived in India “on a mission to capture [its] music”. On 5 January 1902, Gauhar Jaan became the first Indian artist to be recorded. In 1907, a record manufacturing facility was established in Dum Dum, Calcutta — the first of its kind outside the United Kingdom.
On 13 August 1946, the company was incorporated as a private limited entity under the name The Gramophone Co. (India) Limited. It was converted into a public limited company on 28 October 1968, following which its name was changed to The Gramophone Company of India Limited.
From 1909 to 2003, the company retailed its music products—records, cassettes, and compact discs—under the His Master's Voice (HMV) brand, using the iconic logo of a dog named Nipper listening to a gramophone. Even after EMI sold the company to the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group in 1985, Saregama continued to use the HMV name and symbol under a licensing agreement. This arrangement ended in 2003, when EMI divested the rights to the HMV trademark to the British retailer of the same name.
Saregama owns a music repertoire that spans film and non-film music, including Carnatic, Hindustani classical, devotional, folk, and other genres, in over 23 Indian languages. The first song recorded in India—by Gauhar Jaan in 1902—and the soundtrack of the first Indian talkie film, Alam Ara (1931), were released under the label.
Saregama
Saregama India Ltd is an Indian music record label and content company headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal. It is the oldest music label in India, established in 1901 as the Indian branch of the British Gramophone Company. It later became a part of EMI, and for several decades, used the His Master's Voice (HMV) trademark on its releases.
In 1985, the company was acquired by the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. Although the HMV trademark continued to be used until 2003, the licensing agreement with EMI ended that year. Saregama also distributed EMI's international releases in India during this period.
The company is involved in music publishing, film production under the brand Yoodlee Films, and the creation of multi-language television content. It also manufactures and sells Carvaan, a digital audio player pre-loaded with classic Indian music.
Saregama is listed on the NSE and the BSE. Besides its head office in Kolkata, it has regional offices in Mumbai, Chennai, and Delhi.
In 1901, the company began operations as the first overseas branch of the Gramophone Company (later EMI from 1931), by recording the first song in India. It was incorporated in Calcutta (now Kolkata) as The Gramophone and Typewriter Ltd. The following year, Fred Gaisberg, assistant to gramophone record inventor Emile Berliner, arrived in India “on a mission to capture [its] music”. On 5 January 1902, Gauhar Jaan became the first Indian artist to be recorded. In 1907, a record manufacturing facility was established in Dum Dum, Calcutta — the first of its kind outside the United Kingdom.
On 13 August 1946, the company was incorporated as a private limited entity under the name The Gramophone Co. (India) Limited. It was converted into a public limited company on 28 October 1968, following which its name was changed to The Gramophone Company of India Limited.
From 1909 to 2003, the company retailed its music products—records, cassettes, and compact discs—under the His Master's Voice (HMV) brand, using the iconic logo of a dog named Nipper listening to a gramophone. Even after EMI sold the company to the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group in 1985, Saregama continued to use the HMV name and symbol under a licensing agreement. This arrangement ended in 2003, when EMI divested the rights to the HMV trademark to the British retailer of the same name.
Saregama owns a music repertoire that spans film and non-film music, including Carnatic, Hindustani classical, devotional, folk, and other genres, in over 23 Indian languages. The first song recorded in India—by Gauhar Jaan in 1902—and the soundtrack of the first Indian talkie film, Alam Ara (1931), were released under the label.