Last month the Rock music took its latest victim, Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, Amy Winehouse. She is the latest in a line of pop-rock stars to die young, joining the 27 Club that includes some of the most influential names in Rock, like Robert Johnson, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimmi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and now Amy Winehouse, all of whom died at the age of 27. So what is it about the Rock music scene that spawned these talented but troubled stars, who shone brilliantly for that brief interval in time and in a moment were extinguished forever. Maybe the fame, money and lifestyle or even the lack of it, fuelled the excess and self destructive behaviour, who knows.
From the early days of rock music, many of the musicians who started off playing in clubs were known to have hard drinking hard living lifestyles and the club goers and fans too probably wanted to lose themselves, get away from it all. Many rock musicians who took drugs would often incite and encourage their use. At the end of the day you cannot get away from the fact that drugs, drinks and sex are closely associated with the Rock music scene. Why it should be so is probably too complex for simple answers. Amy Winehouse is dead, nothing can change that but she leaves behind the critically acclaimed music she created for our enjoyment and appreciation. May her soul rest in peace.
Last month also brought the news of a significant Bombay High Court judgment followed by a similar judgment by the Delhi High Court, which ruled that FM Radio Stations need not pay royalty separately to IPRS (Indian Performing Rights Society) which collects royalties on behalf of authors, music composers and music publishers, for the broadcasting rights of the songs played on FM channels, as they were already paying a licensing fee to PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd), representing music companies and producers who are owners of the copyright. This ruling denies the underlying rights of sound recordings which would have a disastrous effect on the authors, composers and music companies. The ruling is also not in line with international copyright law and would definitely be appealed by authors and composers and the IPRS. Whether it will be overturned by a higher court or not is yet to be seen, but the outcome will have a great bearing on the future of the Music Industry.
Lastly another important development which can only be seen as positive for music companies, is the agreement reached between movie and music companies with ISPs, to tackle illegal downloading of music and movies. Internet Service Providers will evolve a system by which subscribers will be alerted when their account has been used to download content that infringes copyright and also the steps to be taken if the activity continues. This is a significant development in the fight against piracy and we hope that with the help of all concerned agencies we can take this fight forward to its necessary conclusion in the coming years.
- Savio D’Souza