IPRS extends wholehearted support to music makers through its campaign “Learn and Earn”

Hyderabad: 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, the IPRS 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” was conducted successfully in Hyderabad.

Chennai was the first destination of the “Learn and Earn” workshop, followed by Hyderabad on May 6th, 2022. Leading music creators, especially from Telugu 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, legendary songwriter, music composer, and IPRS member M.M. Keeravaani said, “The ‘Learn and Earn’ initiative by IPRS is an excellent move to empower all music creators with knowledge and information. It is very important for all music makers to know their basic rights. Ignorance often deprives many of their due credits and rightful dues. With the rapid transformation and growing opportunities, a composer or an author needs to be equally aware about the different aspects of the music business to flourish as a creator.

IPRS as a copyright society has been supporting its members with regular royalties, and I am happy to see this initiative now being taken to educate and upskill.”

Applauding the campaign, renowned songwriter Mr. Mayur Puri added, “IPRS is the single loudest and most important voice of the music creator community. Today, the music industry is getting more and more decentralized every day and as mandated by our visionary chairperson Shri Javed Akhtar Saab, it is imperative for all of us at IPRS to step up our diversity and inclusion initiatives. ‘Learn and Earn’ is a series of full-day, multicity workshops designed to empower our members to not just survive but thrive in this creator economy. This is the first time an epic endeavour of this scale and such comprehensive content is planned to bring the community together, and we hope to see thousands of music makers benefit from this.”

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 Telugu 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.