Kamal Ghorui
Arijit Singh’s decision to step away from playback singing has reignited long-standing questions about how singers are treated and paid in the film industry. As fans and industry insiders grapple with the loss of one of Hindi cinema’s most influential voices, concerns have also surfaced about the fate of artists with far less power and visibility. Against this backdrop, singer Abhijeet Sawant has spoken candidly about remuneration, royalties, and the systemic exploitation of playback singers.
‘People don’t want singers to become bigger than the film’
Appearing on Pentarise Studios’ YouTube channel, Abhijeet was asked directly about the payment structure in film music. Though initially hesitant, he explained why singers are often paid a fixed, limited amount.
“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,” he said.
‘We accept whatever amount we get’
Abhijeet went on to describe how the system survives because singers themselves fear losing opportunities. According to him, many artists agree to unfair terms just to get their voice featured in a film.“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,” he said.
Arijit Singh announces retirement from playback singing
Earlier, Arijit Singh left fans shocked after announcing that he will no longer take up new playback singing assignments. Sharing the news on Instagram, the singer wrote, “Hello, Happy new year to all. I want to thank you all for giving me so much of love all these years as listeners. 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.”
