Sonu Nigam claims music companies banned him over royalty rights

Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam claimed that two of India’s biggest Music labels banned him after he started campaigning for the royalty rights for the singers.

During an interview with Komal Nahta, Nigam noted that both production companies, T-Series and Zee Music, stopped working with him when he raised concerns about copyright ownership and performers’ rights. He further mentioned, “I raised the copyright issue. T-Series banned me. Zee Music also stopped working with me. They said, ‘He’s become an activist.’ I never thought I would be banned. I believed we would eventually resolve the issue, but things only kept getting worse”.

Nigam alleged that the fallout also affected the visibility of his music, saying his songs received less promotion and were played less frequently in public spaces.

Despite the professional setback, he said he turned his attention to live performances. “My time came, then it passed, and now it has come back again. It’s all a matter of time,” he said.

Reflecting on the campaign for artists’ rights, Nigam said the music industry had since changed. “Today, things have changed. Those very music labels are paying royalties to singers. We now meet with affection, sit together and even share meals. Someone had to bell the cat,” he said, adding that he was continuing the fight for performers’ rights that legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar had once championed.

According to Gulf News, Indian singers spent decades signing away the rights to their recordings in exchange for one-time session fees. The situation changed with the Copyright Amendment Act of 2012, which granted performers statutory royalty rights.

The publication noted that Mangeshkar was among the first Indian singers to campaign for royalty rights in the 1960s. Although her efforts strained industry relationships, the legal protections she advocated for were only introduced decades later. Nigam said the labels later acknowledged that his demands had been justified and that he had never been in the wrong.

However, his dispute with T-Series resurfaced in 2020, when he publicly criticized the company’s chairman, Bhushan Kumar, accusing him of exercising arbitrary influence over singers and the wider music industry.

Nigam continues to advocate for artists’ rights while maintaining a successful live performance career. He is scheduled to headline a concert at London’s OVO Arena Wembley on August 23 as part of The Revolution Tour.