For a really long while, the only musician known to this writer with an Ed in his name was Eddie Van Halen. However, in 2015, that all changed while being invited by a friend and his son to attend Ed Sheeran’s first concert in India, held on March 1, 2015 at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Race Course. After nine years, once again on an invitation from a friend, history repeated itself as Sheeran brought his ‘+–=÷× (Mathematics) tour‘ to India on March 16 this year, yet again in Mumbai (his third visit here, following another appearance in 2017). Opening the evening’s proceedings were Prateek Kuhad and C ..read more

It was most appropriate to hear world music at Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre, venue for the performance of the Neil Mukherjee Trio – featuring Neil Mukherjee on guitar, Aditya Jayakar on piano, and Shravan Samsi on drums – on February 25, 2024. Presented by Louiz Banks, and curated by son Gino, the monthly series dubbed as “Jazz@Prithvi” features predominantly jazz musicians performing original compositions. Although the 11am proceedings commenced ten minutes off the scheduled time, Neil Mukherjee strode into the stage, picking up an acoustic guitar to commence his performance with a selection inf ..read more

For some intriguing reason, this year’s Mahindra Blues Festival (MBF) had several regular fans skip the event, apparently – and unfairly – because it had an all-women line-up. However, those missing the festivities on February 10 and 11, 2024 were losers of sorts as those present were treated to amazing performances by the truncated line-up at Mumbai’s Mehboob Studios as headline act and previous MBF participant, Beth Hart, cancelled her visit at the nth hour after she admitted, on social media, that “my health condition prevented me from boarding my flight…” Tipriti Kharbhangar While Sudee ..read more

What is publishing? In simple words, “publishing” means making information available to the public. In the past this was done mainly through issuing printed copies of documents. Now there are many more options including websites, print, e-publications, and apps. What is music publishing?Music publishing is the business of promotion and monetization of musical compositions and literary works. Music publishers ensure that songwriters and lyricists receive royalties for their creative works to generate opportunities for their compositions to be recorded and reproduced. Publishing is the oldest v ..read more

After you have clearly understood the basics of music publishing, know about the steps to take to proceed. Overview of IPRS The rules and methods of The Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS) for administering the performing and mechanical rights royalty distributions for musical & literary works is by collecting royalties from a range of sources on behalf of composers, authors, and publishers, and this note describes part of the process. IPRS collects royalties for music usage on the following basis: Licensed Content/Works: IPRS collects 100% license fees for the licensed ..read more

It was almost 44 years ago since Sting’s first appearance at the now defunct Rang Bhavan amphitheatre in Mumbai when, on March 26, 1980 to be precise, this writer saw him (born: Gordon Sumner) perform live as part of The Police, a trio that also featured Stewart Copeland on drums and Andy Summers on guitar. For most attendees, this performance was their first exposure to an international act, although British space-rockers Hawkwind stepped into the country in 1970! However, before we shift into nostalgia, January 28, 2024 was a “Brand New Day”, both for Sting and for his fans, which was also ..read more

AD Quartet If any Indian musician could be a contender for a term synonymous with virtuoso, it would be Kolkata-based guitarist Amyt Datta, who made a rare appearance in Mumbai at the Jio World Centre on September 1, 2023. Being part of the Electric Power Quartet – along with Sambit Chatterjee on drums, Aakash Ganguly on bass, and Samrat Mukherjee on keyboards – the announcement of Datta’s arrival in Mumbai was not only an event by itself, but immediately ensured that the box office was soon placed under the category of “house full”, and how well deserved it turned out to be… Amyt Datta I ..read more

It has been several decades since I first heard Ratish Tagde performing with his violin at a mutual friend’s residence at Mumbai’s Carmichael Road. Since then, we have remained in contact intermittently, all music related, but I never received an opportunity of seeing him perform live again. With Pandit (“Pt”) Ronu Majumdar, the connect has never been personal, but the release of his cassette during the launch of record label Magnasound in 1989 remains a landmark event. On August 04, 2023 the stars aligned as I saw both these musical stalwarts perform live and, fortuitously, together… Dubbed ..read more

…continued from part 2 One of the latest innovations in AI technology is deepfake vocal synthesisers which make a singer’s voice sound like a famous artist, or even tools which create a wholly synthetic voice as can be gauged from the example of the “new” song purportedly credited to Drake and The Weeknd, “Heart On My Sleeve”. It appears unlikely that under current Copyright law, a manner or style of singing is protectable by copyright, whether generated through an AI synthesiser or through vocal imitation. Whilst there has been an expansion of the subject matter of copyright protection at th ..read more

What makes the Rolling Stones still rock? The answer to that one is easy – Mick Jagger! Celebrating his 80th birthday on July 26, the singer – born Michael Philip Jagger – has created a brand of his own, thanks also to his solo albums and side projects outside the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger Fathering his eighth child in 2016 [even though Jagger became a great grandfather in 2014!] or performing with the same energy, weeks after an emergency surgical procedure for a heart valve replacement in April 2019, the star has not slowed down his pace as the band that he fronts plans its umpteen ..read more