Abhijit Vaghani Explains Why India’s Upfront Payment System Works Better Than Royalty Model

Music composer Abhijit Vaghani chalks out difference between system of revenue and royalty in west and India

Mumbai, July 22

The composer spoke with IANS at his studio in the Andheri West area of Mumbai, and shared that revenue generation is a big challenge for musicians in India, and the current system of paying the artistes in lieu of music rights works better in this context.

He told IANS, "We have very different systems in the west and in India. If I'm a songwriter and I'm in a room, if I have three other songwriters with me, then our equal shares are formed. And that happens in a revenue sharing system. And that same revenue sharing system is actually obsolete here because here, you are counted per individual. And you're paid outright. In this system, you pay off a person, and then you take all their rights or whatever they've done, and then you collect all of them, and the label keeps everything. In our country, it might be really helping people. Because here, in the revenue systems, it takes a lot of time to gather revenue".

"If I'm a new music director, or a singer, then it will take me a lot of time to actually make it in the industry. And maybe this outright system is helpful for everyone. So that's the difference between the West and us. In independent songs right now, we do have a rise in the revenue sharing model. Which is also perfectly fine, because they are adapting to what the West is. And what happens in that is, everyone gets equal share. And whether the song is with a big artist or a small artist, the share will remain the same. And as soon as your song goes viral, that share will keep increasing. You keep doing it for 10 years, 20 years, and you get a collection of these royalties, which amount up to a pretty good amount. You just have to wait. It's not like you get instant results", he added.

— IANS