Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
IS MUSIC INDUSTRY RUN ON FAVOURITISM: WE BRING YOU BOTH SIDES
MANOJ MUNTASHIR, Lyricist
We can’t blatantly deny the power game that runs deep. Singers are the worst-affected. They are forced to sign contracts which can beat bonded labour. To bag a film, talent is not the criteria any more. Pressures are mounting, opportunities are drying up.
Last week, singer-composer Sonu Nigam (in picture) posted a video urging music labels to be “sensitive towards new talent” in the music industry. And on Monday, Nigam posted another video on Instagram. This time, he came down heavily on the bigwigs in the music industry alleging that they are trying to get musicians to speak against him to publications and write on their respective social media accounts. In the video, he claimed that all this is being done to silence his voice, and claims that nepotism and favouritism do exist in the music industry.
JASLEEN ROYAL, Musician It’s a business model of the labels to give more songs to their artistes, but it’s your choice if you want to sign up or not. Coming from Sonu, it is surprising and shocking. He’s one of the biggest names out there, so he saying this holds some truth. I’ve had offers to sign up, but I always said I want to work on my own terms, whenever I want to do a song with whoever I want.
KAVITA SETH, Singer
I am not under any contract with a label. I have a very unique voice and composers contact me keeping that in mind. Having said that, I’ve heard this numerous times from my colleagues in the industry. It’s unjust and not acceptable. As an artiste we need to get our dues.
Nepotism and favouritism — these two words refuse to fade from the public domain when it comes to Bollywood. The former, especially, is the current hot word too, social media being abuzz with talk of how contacts and not talent come into play for films. And singer Sonu Nigam dropped one more bomb in his recent video, claiming that this happens in the music industry as well, and newcomer singers don’t get enough chances.
Is that the case? We spoke to a spectrum of musicians, and while some agreed that favouritism is indeed allpervading, others felt that talent trumps all.
JUBIN NAUTIYAL, Singer What matters is how good you are at your craft. We are in a line where billions judge us for our work, you can’t manipulate a billion minds. In this line of work, what matters is what sounds good to the ear, otherwise, a Jubin, Arijit Singh or even Sonu Nigam won’t have happened. Unhone kaam karke diya.