SINGAPORE-BASED Sydus wants to carve a niche in the marketing industry, by working with companies to create a brand image through music.

Sydus - which means star in Latin - expects profits to jump 30-40 per cent, buoyed by forecast of a 10-fold rise in revenue by next year, Saumil Nanavati, president of the company, told BT in an interview.

'We have a strong pipeline of clients,' he said, adding that the firm plans to sign on seven clients within the next three to four months. He declined to reveal which companies, but said they are mostly MNCs.

The company, which was built on start-up capital, is expected to break even in three years, said Mr Nanavati, an Indian national who moved from California to Singapore to set up Sydus.

Mr Nanavati, who started the firm in 2004, saw a potential in using music as a marketing tool to help businesses create brand identity.

His team, which includes executives formerly from MTV, is hired to find music tracks that create a brand impression. Once a playlist is completed, they upload it online for mobile phone users, who will then download an application that allows the music to be streamed into their phones for free.

Most phones are compatible with the application, according to the company. Alternatively, Internet users who visit the company website would hear music streamed, according to the tailored playlist. His company updates the playlist regularly with new music tracks.

The company is currently focused on helping firms target young Asian consumers. Sydus' client portfolio includes liquor company Barcadi and Virgin Radio. They also work with the 'big four' record labels in Singapore (EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner), one recording firm based in Thailand and 139 in India, said Mr Nanavati, who previously worked as a sales executive at handphone manufacturer Motorola, and a business management consultant in the United States.

He added that he plans to set up four offices by the end of this year in India, Thailand, Hong Kong, and China, while increasing the staff strength to 55 from 13, as the company expands into the region.

'We're re-investing everything earned by the company into growth. This is the kind of trajectory that we're going at,' said Mr Nanavati.

While this means emptying out the kitty, he added the company is in a hurry to grab as much of the market share as possible of the emerging industry.

Music streaming is not new. Many music services have begun to offer music streamed into mobile phones at a price. Record companies have also started to sell their music tracks online to salvage their bottom line, as profits have been slashed by rampant piracy, especially in Asia.

Mr Nanavati said his form of marketing could present a way for record companies to fight piracy, because music firms are getting paid by advertisers, and consumers can stream the music for free and legally. 'We're fighting fire with fire,' he said.

At the same time, the use of such marketing to target the 'transient consumers', who often belong to the young consumers category, is relatively new. 'Content has become a big commodity, and consumers have become more fickle as a result. It's about creating awareness on how to create business around this fickleness,' said Mr Nanavati.

And targeting young users, aged between 16 and 35, can be difficult for most businesses, because they may not understand how the younger generation perceives things, said the 30-year-old founder, who is a computer engineering graduate from an American university.

The company is working on creating an application that helps to create playlists for users. Users can then pick tracks available on the Sydus website, and share the music with friends.

Sydus is still in negotiations with the record companies over the content licensing, and hopes to roll out the new application soon.