To say that music is popular in India would be an understatement. Each year, the film industry alone produces hundreds of songs, many of which resonate with audiences and become part of our cultural spirit. The existential crisis facing the Indian record labelstoday is not the fact that there isn’t an audience for their intellectual property, but rather the inconvenient truth that most Indians simply do not want to pay for the music they enjoy.

This mentality afflicts numerous businesses like restaurants, bars, events companies, and cafes who consistently defy intellectual property laws by playing music without permission from collective management organisations like PPL, despite the fact that music plays a significant role in their ambience and by extension their overall revenues.

The ascension of Members South Indian Music Companies Association (SIMCA) into Phonographic Performance Limited was arguably the most significant development in the Indian music industry this decade. The association, which represents over 70% of the South Indian music industry, weary of the revenue lost to illegal public performances, voted unanimously to join PPL last month, in an effort to monetise its “Public Performance” rights.The term “Public Performance” refers to the act of playing music in public places & premises and/or by commercial and other establishments.This includes hotels, discos, pubs, shops, stores, malls, spas, hospitals, offices, amusement parks; any mode of transportation, be it air, road, train, etc.

Additionally, playing music at events, shows, parties, and social functions, with or without DJS, also constitutes “Public Performance”.

Premachandran A G, Owner & MD of Satyam Audios claims “We invest crores of rupees into creating hits and keep acquiring new film songs like Entammede Jhimmiki Kammal and  Kondoram Kondoram. Users playing our music at their parties or commercial establishments need to pay before they play. We will plough this money back into creating more artist and hits. It will benefit the music industry and improve the overall quality of the music we create.”

National award winner and music composer of the latest Mohanlal film Odiyan, Shri M Jayachandran says “Creating music is an art.It takes weeks or sometimes months to record a song. There is huge army of creative artists behind every piece of music that we create. The final recorded product is expensive as it involves exorbitant production costs. Music is not free!”

Chief Digital Officer of PPL, Hari Nairadds “PPL exclusively controls the rights to 100% of international musicand has more than 300 members across Bollywood, regional cinema and independent music. With SIMCA and our existing members from Kerala, we will represent more than 90% of the music created in ‘God’sOwn Country’. No party can happen without our member’s music. Play music by the rules!”