EVER since the 1930s the Bollywood music industry has co-existed alongside the film industry.

On many occasions a film that failed at the box office has made the money back on the soundtrack. That was until now - the last year has seen massive slumps in the sales of most soundtracks.

Now the record companies have been forced to slash the prices - this has resulted in a lot of movies getting into financial difficulties, which could delay their release.

The other problem is that the leading music director AR Rahman is only doing one film a year.

Rahman, who has composed the score for Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's forthcoming musical Bombay Dreams, is now looking for projects away from Bollywood.