Music composer and Bigg Boss 19 fame Amaal Mallik has revealed the harsh truth about India’s music royalty system. In an interview, he explained how creators earn only a tiny fraction of what their songs actually make. Using his hit track “Sooraj Dooba Hai” from the 2015 Ranbir Kapoor film Roy as an example, Amaal pointed out the huge gap between a song’s revenue and what reaches the artists.
Speaking to Zoom, he said, “There is royalty system implemented from 2020. Javed Akhtar sahab fought very hard for it. An actor feels that if they are standing in a song, the song will be a hit. That is only 50% true. The rest 50% credit goes to the lyric writer, music composer, director and then last comes the singer. Singers are important, but they are not the creators of the song. These four pillars of the sound are all needing rights of the song. Music producers don’t have right to their songs, but in the West, that category also has rights to the song.”
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Amaal Says He Earned In Peanuts Despite Song’s Huge Profits
Amaal Mallik revealed that despite the song earning massive revenue, his personal take-home was small. He said, “Like for the song, Sooraj Dooba Hai, I got Rs 8 lakh, and I gave everything in that. I had to run my house, make this song. It would have taken Rs 10 lakh max. The song was made in Rs 8-10 lakh.”
He estimated that the track has earned nearly Rs 100 crore over 12 years, but the team’s total payout, including him, was just Rs 15–20 lakh. Breaking down his share, he said, “I paid my team in that amount. After paying for everything, I get a salary of Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh after doing one song. That is why my mother said – You don’t even do shows, you are leaving films, then how are you going to live? But God is kind. After doing 130 songs, why must my mother worry about from where will we get the food?”
Amaal On Why Indian Creators Still Struggle Compared To Those In West
Amaal emphasised how most of a song’s earnings in India go to labels rather than creators.
He said, “In India, singers have publishing rights, like I will get Rs 20 lakh per year for Sooraj Dooba Hai but that song has earned Rs 100 crore. So, there is a disparity. So, 95% share of the song goes to the label. Now, that song is not mine anymore. The label can do anything, they can remix it if they want. I can’t do anything about it but pray that they credit me.”
He compared this to the West, citing Taylor Swift, where artists retain master rights and can re-release their work. He added, “If you see the global share of royalties, 95% from that will go to the label, and the rest of the team will share from the remaining 5%.”
Released under T-Series, Sooraj Dooba Hai remains a huge commercial hit, but the label hasn’t shared its earnings.
