“Many of you have witnessed at close hand the profound changes in the landscape, which really have introduced a complete transformation in the way in which content … is created, produced, curated, distributed and ultimately consumed has been completely transformed,” Mr. Gurry said.

Mr. Gurry outlined the challenges in a digital world where the cost of production of creative works is high compared to reproducibility. This, he noted, causes a disjunction between cost of production and cost of reproduction. This has resulted in great evolution of business models, with for instance, the rise of streaming services and other platforms.

The fundamental question arising from this disruption, Mr. Gurry said, is how to sustain the creative industries from an economic point of view within society given that at the heart of production process are creators and the performers. The digital community needs to also address fundamental questions relating to distribution and the huge value gaps between the wealth that is generated by digital platforms and that which is returned to the music industry.

“We can all rejoice in the fact that extremely good progress has been made in general with the creative industries in the digital environment and we are seeing digital sales rising generally,” said Mr. Gurry. However, he said: “We have not yet developed sufficiently the market machinery to support the creative industries in the new environment.”

Mr. Gurry also addressed the questions of governance that are affecting the digital economy and the creative industries. He said laws are important, but that other mechanisms like standards, are important elements in ameliorating governance issues in the digital market. The Conference, he said, will explore what can be done to establish a more efficient digital market globally.

Mr. Choudary said that blocking the free flow of content is contrary to the basic laws digital media. At the same time, monetization of creative content is important and new business models need to be identified.

Mr. Choudary gave an overview of the evolution that has occurred since digitization began to dominate the content industry - from bundling, to new modes of supply and demand and an array of platforms. For example, a music consumer once purchased a full album to acquire a single song, while nowadays platforms allow consumers access a wider, unbundled range of content.

The platform, he said, has become the central organizer of the new digital content market, creating a connection between producer and consumer. These platforms have acquired a unique understanding of consumer needs and tastes, generating recommendations for consumers and then monetizing the result. In many cases, platforms have acquired such a unique understanding of consumer preference that they have also moved into production and even capitalized on artificial intelligence to inform their production and consumer needs.

There have been mixed reactions from the creator’s perspective, he said. Some creators think platforms cause them to lose money, but there is also a widely accepted notion that platforms have democratized access - allowing creators to build a following and create a link with consumers and their fans.

Mr. Chouadary warned, however, that what benefits the platform can hurt the wider creative ecosystem: “Platforms are a new form of colonization,” he said, and benefit from success or failure of the creative industry without taking any risks.

"The way platforms make money and the way they are funded goes against the long term creative value chain,” he said, noting that the fundamental economics of creating content are changing because of the way the platforms work.

Another fundamental issue, he said, is the question of regulation, which should balance interests, ensure proper recompense and hold platforms to account.

But he also noted that the creative industry heavily relies on laws for the protection of their rights. The laws, he said support the exploitation of digital content and need to be updated and ensure fair compensation is given to the makers of exploited content.

Commenting on streaming, Mr. Akhtar said "we have come miles, but have miles to go," noting that streaming has become the primary method of exploiting copyright. Many platforms, he said use the music but do not pay the creators. This should be addressed. "Technology is a master key that can be open many doors...It is up to you whether you want to use it to help someone who has lost their key or become a thief that uses this key mis-appropriately. There is nothing bad with the key itself," he said.

The Government has been focusing on both access and content in the context of Digital India, with great efforts being made to help people become digitally literate, transformation to e-government and ensuring that the benefits of technology development in this area are enjoyed by everyone.

Mr. Sawhney said progress in widespread connectivity has happened with tremendous movement on affordability with services being among the cheapest in the world.

Furthermore, he said India is making progress in the area of electronics manufacturing, along with its great expertise in software development. “We have seen tremendous growth of R&D,” he said noting that most of the large technology companies in the world have set up global R&D centers in India.

In a special session, famed Indian poet, lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar, who is also Chairman of the Indian Performing Rights Society, shared his experiences and said the master key of technology is not bad in itself, but it is how we use it which counts.  

In a panel on education publishing, speakers talked about the opportunities offered through the engagement of young people with digital learning and projected into the future about what might happen with virtual reality and augmented reality.  They observed that  business models are far from settled, especially as governments have traditionally funded education publishing in many countries.  

Experts from the film industry talked about how functional new business models have been instrumental in bringing down piracy and discussed how industry/government collaboration could be effective in curbing piracy.  

Public-private partnerships were also evoked in relation to finding solutions to the challenges of digital markets.