Sony Music buys strategic stake in Infibeam’s digital entertainment business

As Vishal Mehta earlier revealed to us, Infibeam has today formally announced a definitive agreement with Sony Music where the latter has bought strategic stake in Infibeam Digital Entertainment (P) Ltd (Indent).

Following the agreement, Infibeam will hold 26% (majority stake) in the company post completion of transaction. Indent with its clear strategic focus will offer an attractive platform to large and medium music labels in India and abroad.

Any music label or brand holding rights to content can use the Indent platform to engage customers and monetize by distributing digital as well as physical content under their own brand with payment integrations.

Speaking about the agreement, Shridhar Subramaniam, President India and the Middle-East, Sony Music Entertainment, said, "Indent fills a need gap for all music rights owners. As the digital eco system keeps evolving, there has been a strong need for an independent technology company that music companies can partner with to build innovative services and offerings. Every content owner has aspirations to reach consumers and brands directly. Indent empowers these labels with a scalable and commerce ready platform."

In an earlier interaction with YourStory, Vishal Mehta, Founder and CEO, Infibeam, revealed that in 2013 the company’s total transaction value across thousands of merchant sites built using its B2B platform, ‘Buildabazaar’, exceeded the value of transactions on Infibeam.com. The GMV (gross merchandising value) generated collectively across thousands of merchant presence contributes largely to company profitability.

Vishal said that Indent continues to build state-of-the-art inclusive digital platforms powering music applications installed on millions of mobile phones and providing high quality experience to music lovers. Indent will enable brands, technology and music on common interface with innovative customer engagement models.

The Ahmedabad-based company had recently bought digital marketing firm ODigma for $5 million (Rs 32 crore), primarily in stock and cash. It is also eyeing to attract its maiden institutional fund this year.

Read: [Exclusive] Infibeam posts profits last fiscal, to raise maiden institutional fund soon