My music, my money!

Jalota and Aziz

Established in 2013, the Indian Singers and Musicians Rights Association (ISAMRA) has been spearheading the fight for monetary benefits for musicians in the film industry. Navigating the workings of music labels and associations to ensure that artistes earn their due royalties, the board of directors tells mid-day that they have worked towards tweaking laws that do not favour those who do the leg work.

The organisation's CEO, Sanjay Tandon, says that in this day and age, "being aware of your rights" is imperative. "As a collecting body, we collect royalties on behalf of artistes, and subsequently pay them. Only in the recent past have musicians raised questions on these aspects, and our organisation is working as the middleman to facilitate this exchange [of money]," he says.

Sanjay Tandon

A discussion on royalty becomes important in a world that's increasingly dependent on artificial intelligence. With voice samples of artistes being fed to software that subsequently generates a new song in the desired voice, we ask Tandon if the rights of musicians are indeed protected. "As of now, if people are using AI to create content for social media, we aren't taking any steps. However, if they [are deriving monetary benefits by] uploading it on YouTube or other similar platforms, we are imposing copyright strikes."

Chairman Anup Jalota, who has leveraged his stature to push for reforms in royalty distribution, has been instrumental in shaping policies that favour fair compensation. "Singers and musicians have always been under the hand of [music] publishers. We ensure that if a member's song is played, either digitally or on the radio, they are compensated. However, if the song is never played, we cannot pay them," says Jalota. In a bid to put money into the hands of musicians, Tandon thus encourages singers to "sing as many songs as possible". "Make as many compositions as you can. If you make a hundred songs, at least one will be a hit. And that can be profitable for you."

At a time when reworking old ditties has become the norm in the industry, Jalota says "the original artiste always gets a share of the royalties". "Even after the artiste's demise, their children continue to benefit. For example, the royalties of Kishore Kumar are received by his son, Amit Kumar."

Ghazal maestro Talat Aziz, who has also been associated with ISAMRA, says artistes must "understand the concept of distribution in music". His efforts have been pivotal in addressing issues faced by musicians, particularly those working to further the classical music scene. "Those who understand the process can be empowered enough to demand fair compensation. This will help establish standardised practices for royalty distribution."

Music and laws

>> While the use of AI for entertainment purposes is not being objected to, ISAMRA is imposing a copyright strike if the voices of their singers are being generated for commercial purposes using AI tools.

>> Only when a song becomes a hit, and is subsequently played on multiple occasions does it yield monetary benefits. The board suggests that artistes create as much work as they can to create a financial basket.

>> ISAMRA says after the demise of an artiste, his or her children can continue to earn monetary benefits from royalties.