Royalty concerns Lata

“Sadly, this is not possible in India,” she says. Hasn’t inequality to singers in terms of royalty been Lata’s concern for decades? Says the lady, “I used to take royalty right from the beginning. In the days of HMV, they would pay the film producer, who would give us 2.5 per centof the share.”

“Today, there are so many music companies, which buy music rights directly from the producer for as much as Rs 10-15 crore. This means our royalty is gone,” says Lata. She adds, “As for mobile ringtones, we lose crores of rupees to telecom companies, as we do not get any share of the profits.”

“Laxmikant Pyarelal insisted that they would only compose music for a film if I sang for it. So when they were offered Bobby, they refused the film, as I had differences with Raj Kapoor over the issue of royalty,” Lata says.

“It was a big film and I insisted that they should not let go of such a project. Eventually RK agreed to the 2.5 per cent royalty and I sang for Dimple in the film,” the singer adds.