Arijit Singh’s decision to retire from playback singing has sparked widespread discussion across the Hindi music industry. Announced on January 27, the move surprised fans and insiders, bringing fresh attention to the pressures faced by singers behind the scenes. Days after Arijit’s announcement, Abhijeet Sawant has opened up about the realities of working as a playback singer in Bollywood.
The singer, who became a household name after winning Indian Idol, shared his views on how singers are treated and paid in the industry.
Abhijeet Sawant On How Singers Are ‘Exploited’
During an appearance on Pentarise Studios’ YouTube channel, Abhijeet Sawant spoke about money, control and long-term security for singers. He said, “People don’t want the singers to become bigger than the film itself. That’s why they are paid a certain amount. Musicians still don’t receive royalties for film music. So Biddu, who worked on Lafzon Mein, also did a couple of songs in the West, and he gets so much royalty payment from those two songs that he can survive his whole life on that money. We don’t even get enough money to sustain our livelihood.”
Abhijeet explained that in India, singers are usually paid a fixed fee, no matter how successful a song becomes. Unlike the West, where royalties provide long-term income, Indian playback singers rarely benefit once the song is released.
He also spoke about how competition forces singers to accept unfair deals. Abhijeet added, “They have created a system like that. Singers are themselves greedy for opportunities, and they know that ‘if this song gets released in my voice, with some big star lip-syncing, then I can use this song for my entire life.’ Singers themselves don’t want money, because they just want to sing the song or work with a certain producer. We accept whatever amount we get, because if we don’t do it, someone else will. We get exploited a lot.”
What Arijit Singh Said About His Decision To Quit Playback Singing
Arijit Singh shared the news of his retirement through a personal post. Thanking listeners for their love, he explained that he would no longer take up new playback assignments.
He wrote, “Hello, Happy New Year to all. I want to thank you for giving me so much love all these years as a listener. I am happy to announce that I am not gonna be taking any new assignments as a playback vocalist from now on. I am calling it off. It was a wonderful journey.”
Although Arijit has stopped accepting new work, his voice will still be heard in upcoming projects already completed. These include Battle of Galwan with Salman Khan and O’Romeo starring Shahid Kapoor and Triptii Dimri. He has also released a new song “Into You” composed by Salim-Sulaiman and sung with Ananya Sharma.
