Expressnews
Chennai, 04th May 2022: The Indian Performing Right Society Limited (“IPRS”) has always been concerned with the welfare of its members. The IPRS has been protecting the rights of Composers, Songwriters, and Publishers since 1969 – the year of its inception. To see talented creators suffer for lack of knowledge about their rights and opportunities is truly disturbing and got them thinking about the corrective measures needed to rectify the situation.
As a responsible Copyright Society, theIPRS was keenly aware of the economic turbulence its members went through during the pandemic. The Society also observed the multitude of doubts and queries its members had, in this rapidly transforming music landscape.Stemming from this concern, a need to launch the initiative to inform, educate and empower its members emerged. Reaching out to its members through this initiative became one of the prime objectives of the IPRS.
Initiating the journey in this direction, IPRS decided to start a series of workshops for its members. The pan-India Workshops will be a great eye-opener for IPRS members, benefitting their creative journey and career. The Knowledge Workshop aptly titled “Learn and Earn” has taken off successfully in Tamil Nadu.
Chennai was the first destination of the first “Learn and Earn” workshop on May 4th, 2022. Leading lights of the Indian music industry, especially from Tamil Music Industry, including top-line composers, songwriters, publishers, and all reputed IPRS members, graced the meet.
The focal point of discussion at the workshop centered around copyright in music and related areas like licensing emerging trends and technological advancements in the digital era, and the role of the IPRS in protecting creators’ rights and their rightful dues.
Commenting on the initiative and IPRS’s role as a Copyright Society, Seven-time National Award-winning lyricist, legendary poet and IPRS member Shri Vairamuthu Ramasamy said, “I take this opportunity to thank the entire team of IPRS, for this great initiative of ‘Learn and Earn’. IPRS (The Indian Performing Right Society Limited) is an Akshaya Pathram – meaning inexhaustible vessel for creators with the intention to educate them. Music makers are creative people who dream big without being aware of the Indian law. They are also ignorant of the basic rights they possess. However, IPRS acts as our legal body and fights for the royalty of uninformed music creators. They also take up the responsibility to educate music authors, composers about various jargons such as royalty, intellectual property, etc,.
Music creators who has written over 100 songs can lead a happy life with the royalty that he earns for those songs. Not many people are aware of the same. I extend my gratitude to the entire IPRS team for their immense effort to assist many families that were hit hardest during the pandemic.”
Addressing the press conference Mr. Rakesh Nigam, CEO, IPRS said, “The Indian music industry has been evolving dynamically and has been a home ground for some of the most celebrated songwriters and composers across geographies. The Tamil Music Industry is creating a big impact with songs transcending geographies in popularity and setting a benchmark for others to follow. While the industry is growing, it is equally important that songwriters and composers are well aware of their rights. With this initiative, we aim to drive awareness of music copyright and licensing while helping our members to upskill through knowledge and know-how. At IPRS, our primary focus will be to create more opportunities for our members and pave the path towards a strong ecosystem that will help our members and the Indian music industry.”
Mr. Nigam further added, “The Financial Year 21-22 has been watershed in the history of the IPRS with its earnings, recording a growth of around 85% from INR 169.8 crores in FY 20-21 to INR 310+ crores in FY 21-22. Streaming/OTT platforms have been the major contributors to the total income of FY 21-22.
It was also the year that saw the Royalty payouts break the INR 200 crores mark as they bested 210 crores compared to the previous year INR 183.3 crores. IPRS also provided relief funds to its members. Financial aid amounting to INR 6.2 crores to around 3900 author members during the FY21-22 to soften the impact of the loss of income caused due to the Covid pandemic.”
