Photo Credit: Yogesh, Rahamatkar
The Indian film industry has formalized a new partnership that promises fair credits for composers, writers, and lyricists. Here’s the latest.
The agreement between the Music Composers Association of India (MCAI) and the Screenwriters Association (SWA) has formalized a memorandum of understanding. The new fair credit system will establish composers and lyricsists as ‘equal co-authors’ in song creation and designated as ‘primary artists’ for credit purposes. The new deal also requires separate contracts with producers, giving both parties the ability to negotiate independently.
“Irshad Kamil’s best album is Rockstar. When the album was released, his name wasn’t mentioned,” says writer and lyricist Varun Grover, speaking about exploitation of writers in Bollywood. “Today, if you go on any of the popular YouTube music channels, you’d find that even songs by the likes of Gulzar and Javed Akhtar don’t mention their names.”
Grover says writers are often made to wait for their complete fee until the movie releases—which can take months or years. This agreement seeks to address some of the concerns presented by younger writers in Bollywood, who feel as though the current contract landscape massively favors producers over contributors like composers, writers, and lyricists.
“Every note of music tells a story, and every word of a lyric brings it to life,” says filmmaker-composer Vishal Bhardwaj, MCAI president. Bhardwaj says the agreement is more than that, “it’s a promise to ensure fair credit, respect, and independent for all who contribute to the magic of music.” The new agreement is a milestone that results in “a shared commitment to building a fair and collaborative future—one where creative contributions are recognized, valued, and protected.”
“Writers abroad have fought hard for their rights, but that requires a different infrastructure,” says Sujoy Ghosh of the writer’s strike in Hollywood in 2023. “Right now, just having a writer recognized is a key ingredient. Writers in Indian film industries are represented by the Screenwriters Association, a trade union for film writers—including lyricists—who work for films, TV, and digital platforms.
The SWA represented screenwriters from Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Konkani, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Kannada, Oriya, Assamese, and other North eastern languages. The SWA has 8,000 regular members and according to industry sources, the total number of fellow members of SWA in India is around 57,000.
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.