An artist feels appreciated when his/her work gets recognized. When their art has the ability to touch people, that’s a huge validation of their talent.
And they deserve credit for it. After all, everyone puts in their heart and soul into our work for some credit and recognition, don’t we?
Popular Bollywood lyricists Varun Grover, Kausar Munir and Swanand Kirkire penned down and featured in a quirky and lighthearted song titled “Credit De Do Yaar” dedicated to songwriters in the business.
In a short music video, fifteen lyricists came together to voice their concern about lack of recognition awarded to them on streaming platforms.
Towards the end of the video, National Awardee Grover shares a message for the audience to join in and support the demands of the lyricists.
“This was a small effort by 15 lyricists for a big issue. We aren’t under any false impression that you would remember our faces, but please make sure you remember our names because the fight after all is about the names. Often the name of the lyrics-writers goes missing from music streaming platforms, apps or even the official Youtube channels of music companies. And we just want them to credit us properly wherever they play our songs.”
Varun Grover
National Award Winner, Lyricist Swanand Kirkire who is best known for penning songs such as “Behti Hawaa Sa Tha Woh” from 3 Idiots [2009] and “Maanjha” from Kai Po Che [2013], shared a series of tweets with screenshots of various music streaming apps. He highlighted the design and practice of not crediting the songwriters.
“There’s no tradition of crediting the lyricists on this music app. Only the thumbnail, which the producer has provided has a mention, but once you click, only the composer and singers are credited. They have also embedded the lyrics, but not the name of the lyricist.”
Swanand Kirkire
The writer-composer raised the question to streaming apps including Apple Music, Jio Saavn and Gaana, where three albums – Teesri Kasam by lyricist Shailendra, Javed Akhtar’s Lagaan and Omkara by Gulzar were also uncredited.
“If their names aren’t included, then who are we?” he added.
The video also features songwriters Sameer Anjaan, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Neelesh Misra, Manoj Muntashir, Mayur Puri, Kumaar, Shellee, Anvita Dutt, Raj Shekhar, Abhiruchi Chand, Hussain Haidry, Puneet Sharma.
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