Musicians making up piracy losses by IPRS royalties

Under the initiative of the copyright body Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), hundreds of lyricists, composers and music companies earn handsome royalties each time you groove to their tunes at a hotel or a discotheque.

Late music composer Salil Chowdhury's wife Sabita, who hardly got any royalty from the album sales of his evergreen numbers, now earns around than Rs 4 lakh on an average each year as royalties earned from IPRS, which collects Public Performance License fees from all playing music commercially.

"Most of the music companies don't pay me royalties as the legal heir to my husband. Artistes are always lost in their own world of creativity so we are unable to keep track of all these things. But through IPRS, I am happy to be earning regular royalties," she told PTI.

The Burmans, which has produced the iconic father-son duo of S D Burman and R D Burman, has similar tales as they have earned more than Rs 1 crore by way of IPRS royalties in the last four years, officials of the Society said.

Veteran musician Mrinal Bandyopadhyay, now in his seventies, says the royalty cheques he receives each year helps him take care of his expenses in old age.

According to industry figures, the physical sales of recorded music has dropped by 5 per cent to Rs 299 crore in 2010 while digital sales and revenues through performing rights have increased by over 40 per cent to Rs 432 crore. (MORE) PTI NIK NN KK