This story is from November 20, 2011

Whose album is it anway?

Zinia Sen / TNN / Updated: Nov 20, 2011, 12:01 IST

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Chandrabindoo’s last basic album, ‘U/A’, has been renamed & repackaged without their knowledge; Anindya says there’s nothing to be done legally, but it’s an alarming trend for the music industry

When Chandrabindoo frontman Anindya walked into a city music store last week, little did he know that his search for the band’s latest albums would lead him to a shocker. He found that Chandrabindoo’s last release, “U/A”, had been relaunched as “Dekhbi Jolbi Fulbi” — without the band’s knowledge.
Anindya tells us what happened, “There’s a dedicated rack for Chandrabindoo at this music store.To my surprise, I found this album on the rack. Since the name was unfamiliar, I checked the tracks and found that it was actually our album, “U/A”, but packaged differently. This is bound to create confusion as a lot of our fans might buy the album thinking it to be the latest from our stable.”
The confusion has its roots in T-Series taking over the audio rights of all albums under Big Music, which had launched “U/A”. “This incident is sad, as the music label had marked its debut in the eastern region with this Chandrabindoo album. Legally, we do not have a stand, as every contract, be it in Kolkata or Mumbai, is always one-sided and the artiste has no say. But from an artiste’s point of view, this is extremely disturbing since a lot of thought had gone into the album title. What’s more, even the album cover, designed meticulously by Upal, has been changed. It’s sad that all this has happened without any of us knowing it. This is nothing short of humiliation. At least we should have known that such a thing was happening. “U/A” is a basic album and not a compilation that can be given a new name,” he adds. To the band members’ surprise, the track titles in the album have been changed as well.
If the trend persists, it would be nothing short of alarming for the music industry, feels Anindya. “Tomorrow, this might happen to other artistes. All I’m saying is that we should have been kept in the loop. Is a courtesy call too much to ask for?” he says.

When CT got in touch with Arup Mazumdar, spokesperson of T-Series, eastern region, he reasoned that since “U/A” was an English title, it was difficult to have it registered under the Bengali catalogue. “Our company doesn’t cater to Bengalis. It’s a national set-up and we don’t even have Bengalis working in our office in Kolkata. “U/A” doesn’t fall under the Bengali title category and it was essential to change the name. We thought “Dekhbi Jolbi Fulbi”, a refrain from one of Chandrabindoo’s songs in the album, would fit the bill. That way, it’s easier to maintain the library here. We are expecting huge sales and when there’s need to copy the album on a large scale, work will be smooth for us.”

Ask him about changing the album cover and the track titles and he says, “The changes were made with the broader purpose of relaunching the album.”
SUBHAJIT, vocalist, Lakkhichhara
After our “Bishesh Bishesh Angsho Birotir Por” released in Kolkata, the music label shut shop here. I do not know if our fate will be the same as Chandrabindoo’s. It’s shocking for any artiste to wake up to a new name for his own album. Creative pursuits will take a beating if such a trend persists.
BABUL SUPRIYO, singer
When an album is released, the motive is to make it a hit. Here, the music labels have a very important role and enjoy the upper hand. Anindya can do nothing more than be shocked. Last year, when “Jodi Jantem” was being released, a music label that owned an old Rabindrasangeet album of mine was set to launch it under a new name. I stalled that attempt. Every name comes with certain attachments. My grandfather had christened me Supriyo. I not only discarded the surname, Boral, but put my nickname ‘Babul’, which means father, before Supriyo. Imagine how shocked my grandpa would have been if he came to know I’m now known as ‘Sobar priyo baba’!
SIDHU, vocalist, Cactus
We had our first audio release in 1999. Back then, a physical release would only mean a cassette, as CDs had not come into vogue. In 2002, when CDs of the album came out, we found to our dismay that the cover had changed. We had put in a lot of effort into the design, but till now the CD just has a cactus plant on the cover — a far cry from the original cover. But artistes can hardly do much about this.

About the Author

Zinia Sen

Zinia Sen is chief copy editor at Calcutta Times. She handles the "Kolkata Is Talking About" pages. She handles editing and production work, apart from writing regularly. She keenly awaits Friday releases and weekend concerts. She hates discussing work and loves playing badminton to keep her going. Having been a high school badminton champion, she says sports has instilled in her the drive to win.

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