By Jigar Ganatra

RP ? Sanjiv Goenka Group owned music label Saregama India has launched a new mobile app for music lovers. The Saregama Classical App was launched in Mumbai with blessings of the country's legendary classical musicians from the country - Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Jasraj, Gulzar Saab, Dr. Balamuralikrishna, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pt. Ajay Pohankar, Amaan and Ayan Ali Khan.

The Saregama Classical app launch event was a grand affair and began with the legendary sarod player Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons, Amaan and Ayan performing Rabindranath Tagore?s famous ?Ekla Chalo Re? and ?Raag Bhairavi.?

This is a one-of-a-kind and first mobile application, which makes Indian classical music available on the digital platform for download on iOS and Android platforms. The library consists of 8000+ musical works, 400+ artists and 50 radio stations across Hindustani, Carnatic and Fusion music, and is available in 172 other countries.

Saregama India managing director Vikram Mehra said that the app is for all those who enjoy classical music, and not only for those who are have technical knowledge about it. ?Research shows, with the decline of CDs ardent music lovers in India and across the globe find it difficult to discover and consume music by their favourite artists. Hence we decided to launch this unique app both for music connoisseurs, as well as those who want to be exposed to classical music. From the first recording of Ustad Bismillah Khan?s shehnai to fusions by Amaan and Ayan Ali Khan, the app encapsulates, through its radio stations, loads of anecdotes about artistes, instruments and ragas which will surely appeal to the Smartphone savvy music lover,? he said.

Talking about the associations and promotional strategies, Mehra said, ?We will be associating with a lot of concert halls across cities, as the target audience and visitors includes a lot of concert and music lovers, including youngsters too. Further, we have both ambitious targets and marketing budget to promote the application.? According to Mehra a lot of requests come from the market and customers themselves, and the app updates will be catered depending on their needs.

The Saregama Classical App is available for free on a seven-day trial period, post which a cost of Rs 99 would be applicable per month on activating the app. Saregama made this a paid app as not everyone values things available for free. However, Saregama has made sure that a discount of 33 per cent is available to those who opt for the annual plan. Several payment options have also been designed for the app.