MUMBAI: Dandiya organiser Sankalp has decided to abstain from playing songs copyrighted to three major labels namely, T-Series, Big Music and Yashraj. The reason cited by Sankalp for this are the exhorbitant music royalties demanded by these labels for the music.

The move means many of the current popular chartbusters belonging to these labels will be missing from the Sankalp roster this year. Sankalp's chief attraction, Falguni Pathak would also refrain from singing Himesh's latest compositions, which are a hit among the dandiya players.

Confirms Sankalp director Devendra Joshi, We have been getting T-Series music for free for all these years directly from Bhushan Kumar but this year because they have come under Indian Music Industry (IMI) wing, we have been asked to shell out the license fee. So, we choose not to play their music. On the other hand, we are approaching independent labels and they are giving us music freely. Apart from T-Series, we would be refraining from playing music from other labels like Big Music and Yashrahj music as well....

Apparently till last year, T-Series used to issue music from its licensing wing, T-Series Public Performance License (TPPL). However with effect from 1 June 2008, the music label has assigned the task of collecting license fees for performances like ground events, hotels, clubs, discos etc. to licensing bodies Phonographic Performance Ltd. (PPL) and Indian Performance Rights Society (IPRS). Major music labels like Yashraj and Big Music still have not come under the IMI wing and prefer to collect their own music royalties. Big Music has recently introduced their own licensing arm, Big Publishing headed by Sanjay Tandon to collect its music royalties.

Says Tandon, We had asked Sankalp and other Mandals using our music during the Navratri festival to pay the requisite license fee before playing them. There are some six event organisers in Mumbai who have paid license fee varying from Rs. 25,000- 1,00,000 and bought the licenses to play our music. Event organisers who haven't opted for our licenses will not be allowed to pay songs from Big Music....

It is not only mandatory only for dandiya nights but for any ground events to procure the necessary license before playing T-Series songs,... states T-Series president - marketing media publishing (TV) Vinod Bhanushali. The event organisers who are using our music won't be allowing free entry at their event and would be minting money out of our music, yet they want it free. We are here for business and need to recover our production costs; also employing IPRS to collect our royalties means a cost to the company....

"This year, we have given IMI the license to collect the license fee for dandiya events on our behalf, so interested dandiya organisers have to approach the licensing body IMI, pay the requisite fee, procure the licenses and play our music. It doesn't effect if some organisers don't use our music, there are many others wanting to use our music....

But a disappointed Himesh Reshammiya, whose songs will not be a part of major dandiya events in town, says, Not playing my songs might not affect T-Series but it does affect me and my popularity as they won't be a part of the nine day festival....

IPRS CEO Rakesh Nigam states, As they are using the recorded songs, they are liable to pay license fee of labels registered under IMI. The sad part is these dandiya organisers are spending crores in performances and advertising their events across all mediums but hesitate to pay a few lakhs for the basic content, music. Apparently, many dandiya organisers have already obtained licences from IPRS but Sankalp is not willing to do so. Apart from Sankalp, we are also tracking other dandiya events and asking to pay royalties....