Artist-first economy a utopia, Sonu Nigam says at FICCI Frames 2020

Image: Instagram/@sonunigamofficial

Digital platforms have opened a new avenue for creators of music, especially for independent artists. This was the common sentiment across the panelists at FICCI Frames 2020 while discussing the business of music in an artist-first economy.

But, singer Sonu Nigam said that it was not an artist-first economy and Bollywood was still prominent in music.

When composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan said that, in the last four to five years, there was a slight change happening and artists were making money without depending on Bollywood, Nigam refuted and said that the pay was very little on digital.

Reportedly, the pay per stream on music streaming services ranges between 20 paise to 40 paise. On YouTube, it is around Rs 70 per play, according to reports.

Mahadevan who has a spiritual channel on YouTube said that, while he was getting revenue on a quarterly basis, no major income was coming from digital. But, he reiterated that a new avenue had opened up.

Lyricist Prasoon Joshi agreed that the remuneration for artists on digital platforms was very small and said associations like Indian Singers Rights Association (ISRA), Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS), and the sound recording society should build a conducive remuneration ecosystem.

When it comes to Bollywood, the pay of top singers including Arijit Singh, Neha Kakkar, Shreya Ghoshal ranges between Rs six lakh to Rs 20 lakh per song.

Another challenge both Nigam and Mahadevan pointed out was the dominance of music labels. As per Nigam, it is difficult for independent artists to find a presence on music OTTs as most of the quota is taken by big music studios.

Mahadevan added to this and said that the music labels were the decision makers. He further said that each singer should be a music label of their own.

Times are tough for musicians as an important revenue stream, live concerts are not happening due to coronavirus. Artistes at every level have been impacted because of no live events. From big Bollywood singers and composers who earn anywhere between Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore per concert to smaller artistes who get upwards of Rs 30,000 depending on their popularity have been hit hard due to the pandemic.

Artistes are trying to stay connected with listeners through digital concerts but monetization remains a challenge.

Nigam pointed out his struggle. He said, “If I don’t perform in the next one year all my money will be gone in paying rent and salaries. So, how can we say it is an artist-first economy. It is a utopia.”​