Has South Indian music composer, instrumentalist, conductor, and songwriter – Ilaiyaraaja, opened up Pandora’s box
through his recent move wherein, the music director/composer served a legal notice to legendary singer SP
Balasubrahmanyam for singing songs composed by him without his permission.
For the music industry which is already trying to grapple with audio rights issue, like for instance trying to
collect royalty in the complicated digital realm which involves not only internet streaming but also use and
commercialization of ‘IP’ by mobile network operators through ring tones and caller tunes, this move by Illayaraaja
has further complicated issues.
It was possible to monitors sales of cassettes and DVDs, and earn royalties, but beyond this, it is practically difficult
to monitor how a composer’s composition is used and the number of people using it. The Indian Performing Rights Society
which is supposed to be entrusted the task of issuing licenses to users of music and collecting royalties from them, for
and on behalf of its members – artists, composers etc., are themselves entangled in legal cases for siphoning off the
funds which was due to these artists.
Illayaraaja’s notification to S P has thrown focus on complexities in copyright protection of music. According to Section
17 of the Copyright Act, 1957, the author of a work is the owner, but if this work is done under employment, it is the
employer who is the owner. In the case of composers, the composer is paid a one-time fee and eventually it is the music
label which owns the copyright.
According to some legal experts if SP had made a CD of Illayaraaja’s songs and commercialized it without giving any royalties,
then that would tantamount to copyright infringement. “However, the present case is fair use of the copyright and must be
encouraged,” said a legal expert. Also not clear is whether Illayaraaja holds the copyright of the songs for which he
served SP a legal notice.
More than a decade ago A R Rahman had decided to protest against the prevailing practices. The music composer went all out
to campaign for securing the financial rights of composers and lyricists. ‘I can’t run to music companies every time
I need to use my own song,’ he had said.
According to Rahman he wanted to push for the copyright of composers and lyricists and music producers, wherein everybody
would get a share. His contention was that as conventional outlets for music sales were drying up, music companies should
envision the changing ground reality which would in future make all music available for free, with only the performers
and performances reaping repeated benefits.
On the other side of the debate is the argument that singers should not be held liable to seek permission from music
composers and it should be the sole responsibility of the event organisers or tours organisers to obtain permissions
and have legalities sorted out with PPL and IPRS. However in the absence of a ‘real’ regulatory body, it would be a
long time before the music industry finds a ‘real’ solution to its never ending copy right woes.
For the music industry which has already failed to nurture talent by providing a proper live platform for its own
singers (both from film as well as independent) resulting in a generation of kids more tuned into international
music and international stars, this kind of a move by composers would only serve as a last straw.
Singers on their part need to cease being enslaved to film music to boost their careers and start writing and composing
their own music. Who can even remember the last time a mainstream popular singer went beyond playback singing and
released a chartbusting independent album of his own? Till then they would not only have to deal with copyright issues
but also resign themselves to celebrity culture (which Indian audiences are slaves to) with popular film actors
entertaining audience with their less than mediocre singing.
Since much of our talent is busy in a studio, recording a song, while actors hog the limelight on live stage as always,
let’s look at what’s coming out of these studios.
Burning up the popular online music charts are songs from the movie Raabta. Composed by Pritam, with lyrics by Irshad
Kamil and Amitabh Bhattacharya, Sound Design by Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R, Recorded by Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar,
Aaroh Velankar and mixed and mastered by Shadab Rayeen, three songs from Raabta are currently trending in the top ten
lists. These include the soothing title song “Raabta” sung by Nikta Gandhi, “Ik Vaari Aa” in the voice of Arijit Singh
and “Sadda Move” sung by Diljit Dosanjh and Raftaar.
Also in the top 10 are songs from Half Girlfriend starring Shraddha Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor. Arijit Singh weaves magic
yet again with “Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga” from the movie, recorded at Studio One and Living Water Music by A Manivannan
and Kaushal Gohil and Mixed & Mastered by Eric Pillai at Future Sound Of Bombay.
The other song from Half Girlfriend that made it to the top 10 is the romantic soulful track “Baarish” which is sung by
Ash King & Shashaa Tirupati with music by Tanishk Bagchi and Mixed & Mastered by Eric Pillai at Future Sound of
Bombay
The multi-talented Parineeti Chopra made a rocking debut with her soothing track “Maana ki Hum Yaar Nahin” from Meri
Pyaari Bindu which reached the top of the charts. With music by Sachin-Jigar, the single was recorded at YRF
Studios.
The peppy song “Suit Suit”, from the film Hindi Medium which instantly found a spot for itself in the top ten music
lists was composed by Guru Randhawa, Rajat Nagpal, Original Music – Intense, sung by Guru Randhawa Ft.Arjun and
was Mixed And Mastered by Eric Pillai at Future Sound Of Bombay
New entry to the top 10 list is the powerful rendering of “The Ganesh Aarti” sung by Amitabh Bachchan for
SARKAR 3.
So until we get some real chartbusting non-film music from these singer-composers, we would have to keep
content with film music and copyright woes.
In search of the Lost Talent
Teen sensation Justin Bieber’s debut gig in India as part of his Purpose World Tour concert
will mesmerize music lovers on 10th May at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. Yes! The same
‘Purpose’ that surpassed 1 million total copies sold in pure album sales. Ticket prices
for the live gig during the first phase of ticket bookings in Feb this year started at
a pricey (by Indian standards) Rs 4,060. Nevertheless minutes after ticket sales went
live on Indian’s premiere entertainment ticketing portal- BookMyShow, there was already a
long, long queue of the online diaspora waiting with bated breath for their turn. Select
categories such as the VVIP 1 and VVIP 2 priced at a pricey (in the true sense of the word),
Rs 76,790 and Rs 58,030 respectively were sold out in a span of less than four hours.
So what does it take for a country with a population of over 1.2 billion, to produce one
singing star who can sell over 1 million copies of an album and command gate prices of
over 100$ upwards? Has India failed to produce promising studio talent who could turn
into headlining live event artists of international caliber?
In the recent past, India has witnessed many EDM stars like Anish Sood, Lost Stories,
Sartek and Shaan having performed at major festivals around the world alongside
International EDM stars like Diplo, Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki,
to name just a few. In the last five years, one of the early champions of dubstep in
India – Nucleya, emerged as one of the most electrifying EDM stars in India. He also
opened the recent Mad Decent Block Party in Mumbai which was headlined by Diplo’s Major
Lazer.
But then does India’s claim to fame end there…with a couple of EDM artistes acting as
‘fillers’ for the ‘real’ album sellers and crowd pullers. Is there a poverty of
talent in the Indian independent music (translate that to Bollywood independent)
scene? Where are the pop and rock bands? Where is that voice that can create mass euphoria
akin to Beiber?
There is debate that India does have a huge pool of talent which is unfortunately gobbled
up by Bollywood. And, then there is argument that there is a huge pool of music talent,
who are using Bollywood as their vehicle. Then are these products of Bollywood able to
pull-off recording breaking music sales?
We have our very own Indian singing sensation driving music lovers crazy – Arijit Singh,
Bollywood’s ‘Sing’ King. Just as fabulous on stage as he is in the recording studio, he
is the hottest pick even in the live events circuit, drawing a jaw dropping remuneration
of nearly Rs 1.5 crore for a 45 minute to one hour performance. However ticket prices for
even Arijit Singh’s shows fade tremendously in comparison to the ‘real’ music stars, with
VVIP entry costing Rs 8000-10000 only. Last heard, Arijit is rumored to be one of the
‘fillers’ at Beiber’s India debut.
Magnifying the fact that there is dearth of music talent in India – be it singers, composers,
lyricists or sound engineers, are some chartbusters that are slaying since the beginning of
the year.
The year started with A.R. Rahman’s original song ‘Humma Humma’ from the 90’s blockbuster movie
Bombay being recreated by Badshah & Tanishk Bagchi for the movie OK Janu starring Shraddha
Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapoor. Sung by Jubin Nautiyal, Shashaa Tirupati and Rap by – Badshah
it has been mixed and mastered by Eric Pillai of Future Sound of Bombay. The ‘new’ song
went on to rock the music charts.
Then came the other rehash – ‘Tamma Tamma Again’ from Badrinath ki Dulhania, starring Alia
Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, again a remix of Maduri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt 90s starrer Thanedar
which too went on to become a chartbuster.
The title track of Badrinath Ki Dulhania too became a rage soon after the music release,
reaching the top of the charts of many of the country’s top streaming websites. Thankfully
not a rehash, the ‘new’ song seems to be just ‘inspired’ from the song ‘Chalat Musafir Moh
Liya’ from the 1966 film Teesri Kasam which in turn was inspired from a Bihari folk song.
Composed by Tanishk Bagchi, the song has been mixed & mastered by Eric Pillai with Michael
Edwin Pillai & Lucky as mix assistant engineers and all live Instruments recorded at Yashraj
Studios by Vijay Dayal.
And March saw the entry of another ‘new’ song –‘‘Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast’ (which is a
rehashed version of 90’s movie Mohra’s super hit song starring Akshay Kumar and Raveen
Tandon) into the top ten echelons. Sung by Udit Narayan and Neha Kakkar ‘Tu Cheez Badi Hai
Mast Mast’ will feature in Abbas-Mustan’s upcoming romantic thriller Machine.
The other song from Ok Janu to reach the top 10 music lists was ‘Enna Sona’ sung by Arijit
Singh. With music by A. R. Rahman, the song is mixed by Ishaan Chhabra and mastered by
Suresh Permal. Wonder why anybody would initially think it would be a rehash of Nusrat Fateh
Ali Khan’s popular song ‘Kinna sohna tenu rab ne banaya’.
Mohit Suri’s Half Girlfriend’s first song ‘Baarish’, which released on 11 April, is rising on
the popularity charts. Composed by Tanishk Bagchi, the song has been mixed & mastered by
Eric Pillai.
The non-Bollywood product which is inching up the charts is predictably from India’s latest
rap king Badshah whose latest single ‘Mercy’ is going ballistic, crossing 25 million
YouTube views; ‘Mercy’ is from his forthcoming album, rightly titled O.N.E. (Original
Never Ends) featuring gorgeous American dancer and actress Lauren Gottlieb. With lyrics
by Badshah, ‘Mercy’ has been mixed by Badshah & Aditya Dev and mastered by Eric Pillai.
Still among the top ten are ‘Kaabil Hoon’ from Hrithik starrer Kaabil and ‘Zaalima’ from
Sharukh starrer Raees. Wonder what’s the ‘x’ factor retaining these songs on the
chartbusters. Is it really the music or is it the larger than life stars these songs are
picturized on?
Though ‘Kabil Hooon’ is soothing and lightens up the mood, it isn’t anything we haven’t
heard before. On the contrary, it sounds familiar, like it was yet another effort to fit
old wine into a new bottle. Sung by Jubin Nautiyal and Palak Muchhal, it has music by
Rajesh Roshan and was mixed and mastered by Aftab Khan at Headroom Studio with Altamash
Shrivastav as mix Assistant.
‘Zaalima’, once again with Arijit Singh at the helm has sound design by Dj Phukan and
Sunny M.R. and has been mixed and mastered by Shadab Rayeen with Abhishek Sortey as
assistant @ Newedge studio. Recording Engineers are Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar,
Aaroh Velankar and Kaushik Das.
Just in case you missed - not only do many of the mentioned chartbusters have the same names
on the music credits but also the same music and lyrics of yesteryear hits. Is it that
‘familiarity’ thrives in India with originality taking a back seat? Or is it that ‘ghar
ki murgi is dal bara bar’ and anything American sells? Or is our ‘non-existent’ music
industry responsible? Or is it really dearth of talent? Till we find answers to our
questions, we at PT will continue ‘In search of the Lost Talent’.
Music Monetization?
Last year, the Unequal Music column in the Nov-Dec issue of the mag touched on the topic of alleged
misappropriation of funds by the IPRS and IPL; rewind to last year‘s report – “The Ministry of HRD had
set up, on 27 February 2014, an Enquiry Commission headed by retired Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana,
Justice Mukul Mudgal, to look into the affairs of IPRS because the ministry had prime facie evidence that the
record labels who control both IPRS and PPL may have colluded to ensure that the rights of the lyricists and
composers were siphoned off by PPL and even some third party private companies. To avoid the Enquiry, on June
2, 2014 IPRS withdrew from the Registrar of Copyrights its application for renewal of its license to operate
as a Copyright Society and went to court against the Enquiry Commission disclaiming its status as a society.
Fortunately, on 13 March 2015, the Chief Justice of Maharashtra ruled against IPRS, whose claim amounted to,
he said, “adding premium to dishonesty”, and that the Government was well within its right to audit the
accounts of IPRS from 1996 to 21 June 2013. IPRS then filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court. On
Friday 11 September 2015, the Supreme Court dismissed the SLP of IPRS.” When we last reported, the ball was
in the court of the Ministry of HRD and the question was: how fast and effectively would the HRD ministry?
Fast forward to December 2016: The Centre has constituted an enquiry to probe into allegations of malpractices
against the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS). “Since there were allegations of malpractices against the
IPRS, the Central Government has constituted an enquiry against it, which is currently in progress,” said the
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) and Phopnographic
Performance Ltd. (PPL) were registered as copyright societies under section 33 of the pre-amended Copyright Act,
1957 for carrying out copyright business in the field of musical and literary works and sound recording works
respectively. However, the said registration was over with effect from June 21, 2013 -- one year from the date
of enactment of the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 on June 21, 2012.
“Both the societies have applied for re-registration before the Central Government under Section 33 of the amended
Act within the prescribed time limit and their request for re-registration as Copyright Societies is under
examination,” the DIPP said.
So to cut a long story short, the truth remains that even after a year, there hasn’t been any constructive progress
and it sure looks like it will be quite some time before this country’s composers/lyricists get justice and
can monetise the fruits of their labour.
Another issue of the magazine and we are back to scrutinizing the set of songs that are ruling the
charts.
At the time of going to press, songs from Karan Johar’s ‘Ae Dil Hain Mushkil’ were dominating the charts,
with ‘Channa Mereya’ basking in the glory of the #1 position, while the quirky “Break up Song” and the
title song of the movie “Dil hain mushkil” were at #4 and #6 respectively. The Sound Design for the songs
are by Dj Phukan & Sunny M.R.; Mixed and Mastered by Shadab Rayeen at New Edge Studio with Abhishek Sortey
as assistant and Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Lee Slater and Kaushik Das as the recording
engineers.
The new entry this month was ‘Nashe Si Chadh Gayi’ from Befikre at #2. Though the film bombed at the box-office,
the peppy tracks of the movie managed to set feet taping. The other song from this movie which has made it to
the list is ‘Ude Dil Befikre’ at #5; music by Vishal-Shekhar and recorded at Yashraj Studios under the YRF
Music label.
Though Amit Trivedi came out with another beautiful set of songs for the movie Dear Zindagi, only the light
hearted and warm track “Love you Zindagi” managed to find a place on the music charts this month. At #3, the
song under the Sony Music label, has been recorded by Shadab Rayeen, Assisted by Abhishek Sortey & Firoz
Shaikh at AT Studios and also mixed by Shadab Rayeen at A T Studios & New Edge Studios in Mumbai. The song
has been mastered by Donal Whelan of Masteringworld, U.K and Sound Design is by Debasish Mishra.
Close on the heels of Ae Dil Hain Mushkil, Pritam seems to have ended the year on a high note with some rustic
Haryanvi music for the Aamir Khan starrer Dangal.
Recorded under the Zee Music Company label, the songs ‘Bapu Hanikarak’ at #7 and ‘Dhaakad’ at #9 have hit the
right chord with the audience. The sound crew for the songs include sound design by Shajith Koyeri (Bapu
Hanikarak) and Sunny M.R. & DJ Phukan (Dhaakad); Mix & Mastered by Shadab Rayeen and assisted by Abhishek
Sortey at New Edge studios; Recording Engineers : Kaushik Das, Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar and Aaroh
Velankar
It may just be a matter of time before we hear some of these songs on the little box as an ad jingle or a
television title track. The reuse of Bollywood-songs in India is legion. Wrigley’s used ‘Ek Ajnabee Hasina Se’
from the Rajesh Khanna starrer Ajnabee to launch its Doublemint brand, while the super hit daily soap Bade Achche
Lagte Hai chose a namesake song from the 1970s movie Balika Vadhu. Saffola with Akele Akele Kahaan Ja Rahe Ho,
Tanishq with Dil Deke Dekho, Cello Pens with Chitthi Aai Hai....the instances are innumerable.
This again brings us to the rights of the composers/lyricists and creatives behind the songs. Music Labels have
found one more avenue to monetise their library of songs, but what about the composers and lyricists. “The
purpose of IPRS is to issue Licences to users of music and collect Royalties from them, for and on behalf
of its Members i.e. the Authors, the Composers and the Publishers of Music and distribute this Royalty amongst
them after deducting its administrative costs,” but with the body supposed to be looking after the interests of
its members embroiled in legal cases of misappropriation of funds, the members woes continue as we move forward to
the next year.
Chart ’BUSTING’
Bollywood today has become synonymous with song and dance. In fact songs today can
make or break a film.
Week after week music charts are witness to new songs peaking to the top five within days
of its music release.
Some songs are instantaneously declared ‘Love Anthems’ finding a place in the hit playlist
of Disc jockeys playing at discotheques. But the question remains – who’s to decide which
song will reach the top of the music charts? Is it really the music aficionados? Or is the
radio jockeys or the video jockeys? Or is it the music labels themselves who decide? While
a couple of songs bank in on their position on the chartbusters, there are many other who
are not fortunate enough to even have their albums released. These songs go unheard,
unnoticed because they do not find a slot on radio or television channels? So are good
songs at the mercy of radio and television channels?
Well, while you ponder on these questions, let’s take you on the journey of songs trending
on the music charts these days. ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ from the Karan Johar directorial movie
‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ is sitting comfortably at number 1, while ‘Kaun Tuje’ from the movie,
Dhoni and ‘Bulleya’ from ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ are rotating at number 2 and 3. The leading
songs that are entertaining you these days while driving, eating or sleeping (as listed on
Saavn - another ‘Mecca’ for songs aspiring to reach the ‘trending list’) include ‘Afreen
Afreen’ at no. 10, mix & mastered by Eric Pillai, with Himanshu Shirlekar as recording
engineer; ‘Nachde Na Saare’ at No. 9, mixed & mastered by Shadaab Rayeen and recorded by
Abhishek Sortey; ‘Beat Pe Booty’ at No. 8, mix &mastered by Eric Pillai; ‘Sau Aasmaan’ at
No. 7, mix & mastered by - Eric Pillai. ‘Besabriyaan’ at No. 6, mixed & mastered by Eric
Pillai and all Live Instruments recorded by Shantanu Hudlikar, Vijay Dayal, Abhishek
Khandelwal, Manasi Tare & Chinmay Mistry at YRF studios. ‘Tere Sang Yaara’ from the movie,
Rustom still at no. 5, produced & mixed by Aditya Dev, mastered by Shadab Rayeen; ‘Kala
Chasma’ which took the country by storm is again mixed & Mastered by Eric Pillai, Vocals
Recorded at YRF studios by Shantanu Hudlikar, Abhishek Khandelwal & Manasi Tare; ‘Bulleya’
at No. 3, Sound Design by Dj Phukan, Mix & Mastered by Shadab Rayeen, Recording Engineers
are Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu Shirlekar, Kaushik Das, and Sujith Sreedhar; ‘Kaun Tujhe’ at
No. 2, again mix & mastered by Eric Pillai. Live Instruments for this song is recorded by
Vijay Dayal & Chinmay Mistry at Yash Raj Studios; ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ is currently at
No. 1 - maybe till Arijeet churns out another ‘cracker’ of a song this Diwali. Sound Design
for this ‘Love Anthem’ is by Dj Phukan and Sunny M.R., Mix by Sunny M.R. & Shadab Rayeen,
Mastered by Shadab Rayeen, Recording Engineer’s for this song are Ashwin Kulkarni, Himanshu
Shirlekar, Kaushik Das and Lee Slater. No surprises here why Eric Pillai is really the
‘Future Sound of Bombay’.
Most are familiar with Bollywood songs, but how many of us know about the trending bands of
India and the artistes working tirelessly under the radar – unnoticed. Okay! for a moment
let’s just unwind the wheel of time. Hope we all remember Dr. Palash Sen, the front man
of the indie-rock band Euphoria, known for their peppy numbers like ‘Dhoom Pichak Dhoom” and
“Maaeri’, or Suneeti Rao whose husky voice seduced the listeners for many years when we
all hummed together “Pari hoon main”. Not to forget, ’Made in India’ trendsetter song singer,
Alisha Chenoy, who took the country by storm with her song, ‘Baby Doll’. Where are they?
Have they all succumbed to the age old saying - out of sight, out of mind because they are
not trending on the Music Charts anymore? Do we care to know about the sound engineers
and technicians who make the songs, what they are? No, we do not. This is probably because
the Indian music industry is at its best disorganized to the core! In fact do we even
have a “Music Industry” in India? There is no real industry where the bands, artistes,
playback singers, sound engineers, technicians and everything else related to music
production can co-exist and thrive. Dr. Sen, of Euphoria rues that that there are very
few platforms for independent and non-Bollywood artistes and releasing non-Bollywood
music becomes a struggle. This is one of the reasons why Euphoria’s ‘Halla Bol’ launched
on world Music Day (June21) was the band’s first single in 15 years.
“We have been making music. But the truth is a lot of music that we have made has never
reached the audience. Except MTV and Fever FM, not a single TV or radio channel is willing
to play our latest song. Their slots have already been bought, and taken by Bollywood music,
and there is no platform for non-film artistes to get their music heard,” laments Sen. He
adds, “It is not that non-film artistes are ignored. They are not allowed to be heard.
People will only listen to us if they get to hear the music in the first place.
Unfortunately, they don’t have that choice. This is one of the aspect that I’m trying to
highlight in ‘Halla Bol’ — the freedom to raise voice against injustice and demand your
music”.
According to Amaal Mallik the Bollywood Music Industry is a “vicious cycle” and he has every
reason to believe so. According to him the music which is promoted heavily tends to become
an earworm and eventually a super-duper hit. He quotes, ‘Jo Dikhta Hain Woh Bikta Hain,
and Jo Bikta Hain woh Aur Dikhta hain and the cycle continue.....And we all think ‘Yeh
Hain Naya Hit Gaana...’ “Whoever makes noise gets noticed,” echoes Sen.
The National Award winner, Sonu Nigam who has been enthralling fans in India and abroad with
his soulful voice for over 25 years, says, “Music is becoming more international. From
hip-hop, jazz to EDM and rap songs, the Indian music industry is in interesting times when
native music is getting a heightened tough of western music”. He however believes that
India’s own music genres should also be rightfully given a respectable space to flourish.
He further adds, “As a musician, I value classical Indian music and I am of the opinion
that genres like ghazals and bhajans, besides pure classical music, need respectable space
to flourish”.
Are we as listeners all stuck in the new social trappings like YouTube views, iTunes downloads
and Radio play. These cannot be the only yardstick to measure the success of a song or music.
Today most of the artistes (read Bollywood singers) are part of a particular camp (read music
companies) who manage their talent. The motive behind music companies managing singers is
very clear. Once the song is a hit, the singer will then perform the song at concerts and
various other events, and a certain percentage of monetary shares will go to the company.
Is this the formula for a vibrant Music Industry? Or does the formula lie in having an
industry in which independent music can be taken in the same spirit as that of Bollywood
music.
Bollywood Music- Tempo, articulation & Dynamics
Music is a language that everybody seems to understand - uniting soccer moms, club
kids, indie rockers, hip-hop devotees, and everybody else, around a common groove.
Taste is notoriously more fragmented than ever these days, thanks to the multitude
of options available. Still, every once in a while, a song manages to connect with
the masses and set everybody’s feet tapping — Be it “Baby ko Bass Pasand Hai” sung
by the singer Vishal Dadlani from the movie Sultan, or the title
song “Ud-da Punjab” from the film Udta Punjab, again sung by singer Vishal Dadlani
and Amit Trivedi. While these songs tickle you to dance, other romantic melodies
like “Sab Tera” from the action packed movie Baaghi, or the melody of Atif Aslam
in the song “Tere Sang Yaara” from the film Rustom sways your heart and sets your
mood for the day. The list can go and on as there are many more tracks that qualify
off the top of the head.
What do hit songs have in common over the years, and how are they changing? What
makes a song reach the Top 10? What is the age of a song and its spread? What are
the sources of revenues and the problems related to it? And what does it all say
about who we were, and who we’re becoming? This column takes a sneak peek into this
stream of trending chartbusters, and the latest news regarding it.
Let’s first look at the trending graph of the chartbusters from the various music
channels. “Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai” from the movie Sultan, recorded and mixed by
Vijay Dayal at YRF studios is holding its place at the top, with “Chitta Ve” from
Udta Punjab, trending at #2. Recorded at Mumbai studios - A T Studios and The Click
Studio, “Chitta Ve” has been recorded & mixed by Shadab Rayeen (assisted by
Abhishek Sortey & Firoz Shaikh) at A T Studios and New Edge studios, Mumbai and
mastered by Donal Whelan, Masteringworld, U.K. “Sau Tarah Ke”, a track from the
movie Dishoom sung beautifully by Jonita Gandhi and Amit Mishra is at 3rd position.
This chartbuster has been recorded by Ashwin Kulkarni, Kaushik Das, Himanshu
Shirlekar and Atif Ali and mixed and mastered by Eric Pillai at the Futuresound of
Bombay, assisted by - Michael Edwin Pillai & ‘Lucky’. The
soul-stirring “Jag Ghoomeya”, again a track from the movie Sultan, sung melodiously
by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and recorded and mixed by Vijay Dayal at YRF studios is at
number 4. On 5th position is “Sab Tera” from Baaghi - song mixed and mastered by
Eric pillai at Future sound of Bombay (Assistant mix engineers-Michael Pillai,
Lucky) and recorded by Uddipan Sharma & Julian Mascerahnas at Enzy Studios.
The other songs that make it to the top 10 on the chartbuster list include “Tere
Sang Yaara” a romatic melody by Atif Aslam from the film Rustom at #6, “Bol do na
Zara” from the film Azhar at 7. Currently trending at #8 but swiftly climbing up
the charts is “Tu Hai” from Mohenjo Daro sung and composed by the maestro A.R.
Rahman himself. Title song from Dishoom, “Toh Dhisoom” is trending at number #9.
Finally on 10th position is a song from the movie “Junooniyat” by Armaan
Malik.
There is no definitive prescriptive judgment on the production of “hit” songs.
To know the formula for a song to be successful, we need to study the anatomy of
top songs and determine whether there is, in fact, a formula for a hit. With so
many releases every week, there is no definite age of a song too. But yes, today
songs have a wide spread and offer multiple avenues of generating income - be
it
ring tones or radio or downloads, public performances etc. — and the value of these
new revenues generated from the new “Digital” industry can’t often be calculated
upfront.
Making music a success is a team work of singers, composers and lyricist and these
creative artistes also now want a share of this future upside. The Indian Performing
Rights Society (IPRS) has demanded a remunerative right to all songs converted to
ring tones or even if they are played on radio. A new tariff rate card has been
recently issued by IPRS for various forms of usage and issuance of performing
licenses. In fact legal cases have been also been filed by radio broadcasters
against the copyright societies, e.g. ENIL (Radio Mirchi) Vs. PPL (Phonographic
Performance Ltd.) due to the increase in rates.
According to the IPRS’ new tariff, the revenue share royalty they demand from radio
stations varies from 3 to 10 percent of gross revenue of the station and is
proportional to the percentage of musical works broadcast by the station from the
repertoire of the Society. This royalty is then split between record companies,
composers and lyricists in a pre-determined share. Singers can be added to this
list but that move will come at a cost. Singers need to understand that their
upfront payment will come down. According to back-of-envelope calculations, their
upfront fees will be almost halved; the rest of the money will come in over the
time as revenue share royalty.
A few years ago a body of singers led by the legendary Asha Bhonsle, demanded that
they be given royalty from the sale of sound recordings. They formed a performers’
body called Performers Syndicate Limited (PSL). The 76-year-old diva’s clamour is
more understandable in the context of the changes in the music market. Revenues
from physical sale (CD and music cassette) of music albums are dipping, but the
caller tunes and ring tones market is on the way up. Industry experts estimate
that this accounts for almost 50 percent of revenue for some record companies. The
launch of FM radio channels across the nation too holds a new lifeline to the
music fraternity, as stations also pay royalty for the songs they broadcast.
Experts like Atul Churamani, Vice President of Saregama India, has given the views
and believes revenue share is indeed the way to go. But the devil is in the details
of the contract signed between artists and film producers or even music companies.
The way radio stations share revenues with the government to launch new FM stations,
instead of paying a one-time license fee, may be the way ahead to resolve the
royalty issue with the music fraternity.
After analysis what we believe is that finally, forming various bodies such as PSL,
IPRS and PPL to collect revenues is a duplication of effort and complicates the
matter. One body that deals with all forms of music royalties can reduce
administrative expenses and increase efficiency of revenue collection. This
entity will have to monitor sales diligently so that no one is taken for a
ride.