Since numerous commercial joints in the city play music illegally, the industry has faced losses amounting to over Rs 70 crore; 10 city restaurants and bars labelled 'chronic defaulters'
Since numerous commercial joints in the city play music illegally, the industry has faced losses amounting to over Rs 70 crore; 10 city restaurants and bars labelled 'chronic defaulters'
With several commercial joints playing music illegally, the Indian music industry has faced losses amounting to crores. Last year, the music industry in the country faced losses upto Rs 200 crore, 35 per cent of which was from Bangalore alone. Over 10 major restaurants and bars in the city have been labeled 'chronic defaulters' by the apex licensing arm of the Indian Music Industry -- the Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL).
PPL has made allegations against several majors in the hotel industry, claiming that most are in violation of music copyrights. The body will now obtain injunctions from the High Court against all defaulting venues if the licence fee is not paid. 
"Event organisers charge consumers a considerable component of the fee for special occasions, which is an essential element to entertainment. Yet, when it comes to paying for the commercial use of music, they choose to evade the licence fee. Lawful licenses are to be obtained for commercial playing of copyrighted music," said Sowmya Chowdhury, Country Head-Events, PPL.
Going legal
Meanwhile, talking about the defaulting venues in the city, the Regional Manager of PPL, Partho Chakrabarty alleged that over Rs 70 crore has been lost from Bangalore alone in the last year. "The licence fee was last regulated in 2009 when a gazette notification was issued and we have been following the same rules since then. We will be booking legal charges against the defaulting organisations in the city. Of the licence fee that is collected nationally, 15 per cent is retained by the PPL for administrative purposes, a part is paid to the government as taxes and the balance goes to individual artistes and record companies as royalty," said Chakrabarty.
Measuring up
Explaining about the rules under which the licence fee is fixed, he informed that different criteria are kept in mind depending on the commercial firm. "When it comes to a shopping mall, calculations are made according to square feet, the area where the commercial establishment is based, sitting capacity of a restaurant and star rating of a hotel. When music is being played at an event, the duration and the size of the crowd is taken into consideration. However, it is mandatory to pay licence fee for usage of any copyright music in any manner," he explained.
Paid in full?
Meanwhile, when hotels and restaurants listed as 'defaulters' were contacted, most claimed not to have any information about such a payment. "We have paid all the dues and have the official PPL licence too. So we are not aware of this fresh allegation made by the PPL," opined Baby, Manager of Cidatel Hotel, one of the defaulters in the list. The General Manager of Hotel Atria, B K Nair mirrored the same. "We do not wish to comment," he said. While the organisations are refusing to react to these allegations, the PPL now plans to take legal recourse to make sure the defaulter firms pay their dues on time.
Rs 200 cr
The approximate loss that the Indian music industry suffered as commercial establishments defaulted on licence fee last year
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