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Remix music thriving on inadequate regulation
New Delhi, Aug 20: Taking the Indian music scene by storm, remixes are a `hot property` today enjoying an amazingly wide audience, but singers and music companies alike are not very happy at the trend, which they claim might spell doom for the industry.
New Delhi, Aug 20: Taking the Indian music scene by storm, remixes are a “hot property” today enjoying an amazingly wide audience, but singers and music companies alike are not very happy at the trend, which they claim might spell doom for the industry.
"We have received complaints from veterans like Naushad, Khayam, Anandji, Anand Bakshi, Madan Mohan and many more who are hurt and have undergone mental trauma seeing their work being mutilated in remix music," says Sanjay Tandon, director general, Indian Performing Rights Society Limited (IPRS), calling for strict regulations to check the trend.
Music Industry sources say lack of proper regulation has led to losses of over Rs 400 crore in the last year-and-a-half, which has harmed the composers, writers and original copyright owners, who are denied royalty on their original work.
"Apart from the financial implications, the main issue which is hurting the singers community is that their original compositions are being tampered with without seeking any consent from them," Tandon says.
The Indian music industry has been opposing the "misuse" of the clause 52 (i)(j) of the Copyright Act which allows anyone to re-record a song just two years after its original release, without the approval of the original copyright owner and with no obligation in the manner in which the song is to be re-recorded.
The industry claims that the present royalty of five per cent of the retail price is too low and the credibility of royalty statements is also unusually in doubt as the sales are not declared accurately.
"Remixes started as a one-off thing but what is worrying us is that it is controlling 80 per cent of the market today pushing the original work in the industry to the corner," says Tandon.
His fears are not unjustified. Starting from days of Gulshan Kumar of T-Series, who is credited with pioneering the trend, to the present day jazzy numbers like 'Kanata Laga' or 'Kaliyon ka Chaman', remixes enjoy a market encompassing every strata of the society.
And others have been quick to cash-in on the trend.
"Remix music has definitely succeeded in catching the imagination of people," says Vanita of Jagatjit Industries, which recently made a foray into the music scene by launching a remix with HMV.
While the concerns of the artistes and the industry are legitimate, Vanita says, the remixes have helped revive interest in the Bollywood music of the past.
"Young people dancing to the songs which, I am sure, they would have never known existed had they not been presented through remixes," she says.
She agrees that "remix music means assured success to an extent", but adds that quality has to be maintained to sustain interest.
From the initial days of using "not so well-known" singers and minor changes in the original compositions, remix music today is a heady mix of beats and videos depicting female models gyrating to the foot tapping "whatever" churned out by a breed of artistes called “s”. Bureau Report
"We have received complaints from veterans like Naushad, Khayam, Anandji, Anand Bakshi, Madan Mohan and many more who are hurt and have undergone mental trauma seeing their work being mutilated in remix music," says Sanjay Tandon, director general, Indian Performing Rights Society Limited (IPRS), calling for strict regulations to check the trend.
Music Industry sources say lack of proper regulation has led to losses of over Rs 400 crore in the last year-and-a-half, which has harmed the composers, writers and original copyright owners, who are denied royalty on their original work.
"Apart from the financial implications, the main issue which is hurting the singers community is that their original compositions are being tampered with without seeking any consent from them," Tandon says.
The Indian music industry has been opposing the "misuse" of the clause 52 (i)(j) of the Copyright Act which allows anyone to re-record a song just two years after its original release, without the approval of the original copyright owner and with no obligation in the manner in which the song is to be re-recorded.
The industry claims that the present royalty of five per cent of the retail price is too low and the credibility of royalty statements is also unusually in doubt as the sales are not declared accurately.
"Remixes started as a one-off thing but what is worrying us is that it is controlling 80 per cent of the market today pushing the original work in the industry to the corner," says Tandon.
His fears are not unjustified. Starting from days of Gulshan Kumar of T-Series, who is credited with pioneering the trend, to the present day jazzy numbers like 'Kanata Laga' or 'Kaliyon ka Chaman', remixes enjoy a market encompassing every strata of the society.
And others have been quick to cash-in on the trend.
"Remix music has definitely succeeded in catching the imagination of people," says Vanita of Jagatjit Industries, which recently made a foray into the music scene by launching a remix with HMV.
While the concerns of the artistes and the industry are legitimate, Vanita says, the remixes have helped revive interest in the Bollywood music of the past.
"Young people dancing to the songs which, I am sure, they would have never known existed had they not been presented through remixes," she says.
She agrees that "remix music means assured success to an extent", but adds that quality has to be maintained to sustain interest.
From the initial days of using "not so well-known" singers and minor changes in the original compositions, remix music today is a heady mix of beats and videos depicting female models gyrating to the foot tapping "whatever" churned out by a breed of artistes called “s”. Bureau Report