THEY ARE PLAYING MY SONG

LYRICIST SAMEER DOESN’T FANCY REMIXES AND POINTS OUT THAT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS UNDERGOING A CRISIS. HE SHARES HIS CONCERNS WITH DEVESH SHARMA

- DEVESH SHARMA

Sameer Anjaan was the go-to lyricist in the ’90s. Name any hit song of the era and chances are that it would have been written by the bard. Today, when the ’90s music is making a comeback thanks to remixes, Sameer’s lyrics are in vogue once more. But the lyricist is far from happy. He’s disgruntled that someone else has rearranged the words and, according to him, made a hash of them. He’s not against remixes per se. His grouse is why can’t filmmakers come to the original composer/ lyricist to rejig it. “Ninety per cent of my songs are being remixed today. They can’t change the hook line because it’s popular. So they retain it. But the rest of the lines have no relation to the opening lines,” he points out angrily. He mentions that lyricists/ composers are considering filing a case against remixes as such practices are eating into their copyrights. According to the present rules, those who have remixed the songs, have to share the royalty with the original writers/composers. “We toiled day and night to make a hit song. How can someone, who wasn’t part of the original film get a royalty for making a couple of changes? Is this justified?” he questions.

He reminds you that the Writers’ Guild of America brought Hollywood to a grinding halt some years ago demanding better work conditions and pay. The studios had to agree to their demands. “We don’t have that kind of unity here. A music director or a lyricist shouldn’t accept remix work on ethical grounds.” He wonders why people are playing with their careers as what counts is your originality. “I don’t think Tanishk Bagchi would want to be known as someone, who just remixes songs. He’d also like to be known for original work.”