Varun Grover: If it comes to going on a strike, I’ll be aggressive

Via its nationwide campaign My Music My Rights the Indian Performing Rights Society IPRS launched the Raga to Rock event aimed at initiating dialogue on the need to support creators for the establishment of a sustainable industry Writer Varun Grover who addressed questions on the means to create a system thatrsquos viable for artistes emphasised the need to help individuals who envisage a fulltime career in the field In this interview he spoke of the importance of creating a future that ensures artistes earn a sustainable livelihood from their craftEdited excerpts from the interviewWhen we speak about just giving authority and ownership of music to its creators do you believe there is one set of artistes who suffer more than the othersYeah absolutely I think lyrics writers within the music industry suffer the most because people are made to believe that a song is created on its own and only the singers get the love and credit for it because they sing it across venues For that reason they have the same status as actors in a film do I donrsquot have a grudge against their success because they have the talent and put in the hard work But mostly a singer is credited for a song a composer comes in the second place and then it is the lyricist Nowadays several composers have their own labels but writers are seen as dispensable Also given the nature of the music industry today composers are considered the heads of departments and have more power So writers end up getting the least creditWhy do you think we have reached a situation where writers are not given their due creditIt has always been like that There was a time when even All India Radio would only announce the names of the singer and the composer and wouldnrsquot name a lyrics writer Then Sahir saab Ludhianvi had to protest to get them to start including the names of writers Even when the era of television began only the singers and at times the composers would be credited Itrsquos a fight that has been underway and occurs when a new medium is created Now with streaming platforms becoming dominant this must occur againRecently I wrote the entire album of Merry Christmas and had to fight and constantly message the music company for seven to eight days to credit me on the YouTube videos of the songs In the headline they would only credit the singer and composer I had to ask for it even though I have written the entire album I donrsquot know why there is this cultural mindset in India where writers are considered lesser artistes than other musicians A lot of them whom I know are very mildmannered and not aggressive Thatrsquos why people take advantage of themThe fight we are involved in is on two levelsmdashone is the moral rights which is that credit should be duly given That requires a change in the mindset of the common listener as well The second is getting fair royalties for fair playWhen I became a writer 20 years ago I did ghostwriting for a lot of people They would tell me that they would pay me But they wouldnrsquot pay me In one scenario I had asked the director of a show whose pilot episode I wrote for the payment and he asked me how much I would pay to be associated with the project Thatrsquos the unfortunate state of the industryConsidering how predominant and wealthy this industry is one would assume that the scope for such exploitation is limited Why does this grey space exist when we have contractsMusic is kind of abstract Words are still solid and real but music is abstract Someone can change a couple of instruments and beats and call it different While writers can still copyright our work I donrsquot know if there is a way to copyright a tune because music is so intricate So itrsquos a difficult scenario to deal withWhat were the measures yoursquoll discussed when it comes to dealing with this scenarioI think young musicians must be careful when it comes to deciding who they choose to trust If you are working in bad faith thatrsquos a sad scenario Lots of bodies like the IPRS and SWA Screen Writersrsquo Association are trying to put together a good contract for newcomers and everyone else so that nobody is exploited They should sign contracts before they submit any work so that they donrsquot reach a place where they would need to accuse someone of stealing something they submittedAll the bodies came together to create this after we got inspired by how WGA Writersrsquo Guild of America got together to fight for their rights I hope we donrsquot have to go on strike but if it comes to that Irsquoll be very aggressiveWho do you believe should have ownership of a songThe authority in terms of the intellectual property of the song should remain with the composer and the author who are the music director and the lyrics writer At the third level should be the singer So these three people should perpetually retain it Subsequently whichever music company comes on board they should license the song for a stipulated number of years and then share profits Anything that results from one personrsquos efforts should stay with them Being a musician is a lifetimersquos effortIs there something about this subject that you think we havenrsquot addressedJust that I wish that the public also supports the artistes There are so many music apps that people listen to right from the time they wake up I hope they give thought to the artistes who make the music and support them in their fight to earn their rights We only ask to be treated with respect It is only in India that we must fight for these things Therersquos no royalty system for writers