Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
NOTES GO AWRY
|
The music world is in a ferment over the royalty demand made by K.J. Yesudas. If he has his way, it will leave many a hearth cold
|
K.J. Yesudas: surprising claim that has caused anxiety
RAMESHCHANDRA, POPULARLY known as Karnataka's Yesudas, has plans to entertain the people of Sullia and Puttur near Mangalore, with exclusive Yesudas songs on April 10 and 11. A two-time winner of the State award for playback singing, Rameshchandra has another programme on hand: a television shoot, featuring five songs of K.J. Yesudas for Asianet channel on April 5.
But two developments have come as a "big shock" to him. A controversy is brewing in Kerala, what with the veteran singer stirring a hornet's nest by declaring that his "evergreen melodies can only be sung by others after paying royalty" to him. His reported denial of permission to singer Unni Menon to render his old number in Chennai recently has created a great deal of anxiety in music circles. Secondly, Yesudas's advice to another singer, Madhu Balakrishnan, not to render his songs on Asianet for the same reason has the music industry in a ferment. Now, can Rameshchandra go ahead with his schedule? He is not sure.
Over 90 per cent of the songs in a typical Rameshchandra concert consists of Yesudas's Kannada film songs. "Yesudas is my favourite. He is a great singer." Naturally, he does not want to hurt the veteran's feelings, but he hopes that the controversy raging in Kerala would end soon, and the singers there, who are upset by these developments, would be able regale the crowds with Yesudas numbers again. Incidentally, Yesudas has sung over 100 Kannada film songs. Rameshchandra thinks it is wrong for a singer to claim such exclusive rights over the songs s/he has rendered. In many programmes, people try to emulate Yesudas. "I like it and I encourage them to do so."
Hamsalekha, well-known music director and a film producer, uneasy about the implications of Yesudas's demand. "In music, we have a great tradition of give and take." Songs have always been the property of the audio companies and he has his own misgivings whether singers could claim royalty for them. Singers such as S.P. Balasubramaniam, S. Janaki, and the late Mohd. Rafi have sung thousands of songs each. If all of them entail royalty, it will be tough going for younger singers. In fact, for most of them, across the States, this is a means of livelihood.
Another music director, who wished to remain anonymous, said Yesudas had never thought on these lines till recently. He wondered what had brought about such a demand. "He has sung many Purandaradasa's songs. Has he paid royalty to anyone?" he wanted to know.
Madanmallu, who heads the association of orchestra troupes in the State and has produced six films, pointed out that the big singers should be humane towards upcoming ones. An orchestra artiste, who makes a living singing film songs, earns about Rs. 3,000 a month. Madanmallu said one could term it reasonable if Yesudas demanded royalty for Tharangini's (the music label, part of the K.J. Yesudas Audio Visual Corporation) productions, but a singer claiming royalty for all the songs sung by him was unprecedented.
Singers and music composers, however, argue that only the Indian Performance Rights Society (IPRS) has the right to demand royalty, which then distributes it to the music director, lyricist, and the audio company, which procures the distribution rights of cassettes and CDs for the songs.
Madanmallu, who also runs an orchestra troupe in his name, said not many orchestras in Bangalore use songs rendered by Yesudas.
Manjula Gururaj, playback singer, said her troupe does sing Yesudas's songs, but just a couple of them. However, she did not want to comment on the controversy without speaking to Yesudas or his son. But troupes do get requests from the public during shows for Yesudas numbers. If they don't have the rights, they might find it embarrassing.
There are about 200 orchestras in Karnataka, more than half of them in Bangalore. A typical troupe employs 15 persons.
With people having easy access to music over the Internet and facilities for easy recording from the television or the radio, the demand for orchestra shows is dwindling. "If every singer insists on royalty, we will have to close down our business," says Mahesh of Madanmallu troupe. He laments that big singers often forget that it is the orchestras that make their songs popular and increase the sales of music albums.
GOVIND D. BELGAUMKAR
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
