Identity of accompanists (?) in "Divine Unison" CD of Semmangudi & MSS

[Sundara Rajan]

I remember reading in erstwhile Sangeetham.com that this CD was a rerecording of a "private" concert sans accompanists and that the violin and mridangam portions were added for this CD. Listening to the CD again recently, I find that these artists have done superb job, of course with the help of advances in technology. However, I do not remember the names of the violinist and mridangist. I would appreciate if any one could provide their names. It is regrettable that the CD cover does not mention their names.

[Pratyaksham Bala]

.
Shri R.K. Shriramkumar, Violin, and Shri K.V. Prasad, Mridangam.

http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... gam#p40066

[Sundara Rajan]

Thank you, Pratyaksham Bala for the quick response and the reference. Yes, we discussed this in Sangeetham.com years ago. It was outright rude of the CD/Cassette folks not to have credited the accompanists. Were they at least rewarded monetarily ? I hope they were.

[Rsachi]

Sir, the reason why they leave out accompanist names is to avoid payment.

[harimau]

Sir, the reason why they leave out accompanist names is to avoid payment.

The original recording on tape was sans violin or mridangam accompaniment.

To add those two to the recording, the violin and mridangam artists would be in sound-proof rooms, listening to the music on headphones while playing their instruments.

They were not born yesterday for them not to know what they were doing and why they were being asked to do it.

The reasonable assumption would be that they were remunerated for their efforts, not the other way around.

[Rsachi]

Harimau, yes. That's how they did it. That's how music tracks are recorded and mixed.
You have still not given any alternative reason for not mentioning their names. Copyright comes from mention of names. It leads to monetary claims. Period.

[rajeshnat]

harimau
good point on your reasonable assumption.another assumption would be the following:

The recording company and possibly main artists would have preferred not to reveal to the public that it was added later, so that divine unison cassette and cds can have more sales as all of them will think it was a live concert.

[vasanthakokilam]

Sometimes ineptitude and general 'who cares' attitude are good enough to explain such things rather than any deliberate tactical maneuvers.

More seriously, the so called category of 'Session Musicians' are not explicitly credited. It looks odd for us given that Violin and Mridangam are treated as some background musicians but this practice is quite common in the recording industry in the west.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_musician

It is not unusual that studio/session musicians are not credited, but do they get royalties? Or is it more common to receive a one-time fee, even if the song they played on (and maybe helped to create a catchy riff) becomes a major hit? Answer is 'Nope, just their hourly or daily rate, unless they helped compose the song. And most times they will make you sign a waiver to that fact'. In the West, they do however qualify for AFM Special Payments Fund, which is another form of royalty. ( http://www.sound-recording.org/about.html )

Having said all that, all of the above applies if the role is strictly as a session musician. But if one's role is more than that, providing input or providing general direction and guidance, then one is eligible for 'co-writing' credits. But when it is not quite obvious, you have to fight for it since the studio or label may not be too forthcoming on their own.

In this case, for us rasikas, it is more about information on who accompanied them. The label could have easily done that, protecting their interests if any with proper paperwork.

[Rsachi]

VKM,
Confining ourselves to CM, I found old EPs and a few LPs didn't mention the accompanist names. Rest did. Rightly so because I think the violin and mridangam add or subtract considerable value to a vocal recording or performance.

[vasanthakokilam]

Sachi, fair enough. I also see that in a typical performance violin and mridangam add a lot of value. Even in this case of adding violin and mridangam later, even if Violin 100% shadowed the vocalist (I doubt that, but let us go with it for now), mridangam play is unique and it is not like western drumming where they play to the beat whereas in CM they play to the song. In that sense, it is intimately connected to the song being played and that too in a specific way by the vocalist.

Having said that, these arguments have been made by guitarists and drummers to no avail. The law in the West is about some crazy definition of what a song is ( Lyrics plus melody. And melody in that definition is more about chord changes which are integral part of the song rather than some free wheeling riff a guitarist might engage in a solo section ).

Any way, as you rightly said, let us stick to CM. What is the legal definition of a 'performance of a song' in CM ( as defined by the Indian legal code ). I searched for it but could not yet find reliable info. But this has to be well known since it applies to every CD that is produced and so I am sure many members of our forum can tell us what it is. The specific question is, for a CD of existing compositions songs by a vocalist accompanied by a mridangist and violinist, who gets the 'performance royalties' on the sales of the CDs?

[Rsachi]

Much ado about nothing. See the album cover as shown in SaReGaMa website:

[vasanthakokilam]

Nice

Good job by Saregama. Right thing to do.

[keerthi]

Yes, good job Saregama.

Only, one wishes they hadn't termed the main artistes as kal-nidhi-s.

That term better describes our Stone Quarry barons in Central Karnataka who also have plenty of kAlA nidhi [Black money].

[rshankar]

LOL!
Makes you wonder if anyone even edits nowadays, and if proof-reading went the same way as reading (a lost art)!

[Rsachi]

Keerthi,
They say some can find a stone in curd also. You're a good example in a good way, at that, sir!

BTW this isn't a new edition. It must have been cast in stone long back.

[harimau]

The specific question is, for a CD of existing compositions songs by a vocalist accompanied by a mridangist and violinist, who gets the 'performance royalties' on the sales of the CDs?

In the Indian context, a vast number of recordings are produced on the basis of one-time payment to the recording artists at the time of recording. Thus the marketing company is relieved of the headache of counting the number of CDs sold and paying a royalty to the recording artists, not an easy feat considering that the nook-and-corner retail music stores don't have connectivity to the producing label's computer system.

With the recent pay-by-the-track system introduced by online retailers (including Amazon and iTunes and such-like), it is now easier to account for sales and pay royalties to the recording artists. Don't expect it to be millions of dollar as in the case of the patent on the infinitely-tuneable mridangam or the one on the veena of a thousand pieces. One Western pop singer lamented that for his hugely popular song webcast repeatedly on Spotify, he received under $1,800! No more private jet rides and chocolate and champagne in Presidential Suites in hotels but I guess groupies may be the only bennies not affected by the new marketing system!

As to "performance royalties" which are due each time the song is played in public, there is absolutely no way to track it, except when played on the radio. Radio stations have been paying royalties each time a song is played and the guy who wrote Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer has acknowledged that these royalties have on many an occasion kept the wolf away from the door.

The owners to the copyright of the song Happy Birthday to You have threatened the owners of restaurants with demands for royalties so much so that chains such as the Olive Garden have substituted their own birthday greeting songs.

[Rsachi]

Harimau, thanks. For a moment I thought I was reading a letter to the editor of Time

Yes, by and large, artistes were happy with one time payment model in CM.

I have heard that some recent labels, busy in Carnatic music, signed contracts with artistes with 2 payment parts - including payment of royalties on number of albums/tracks sold (they sell hard copies as well as downloads) and the payments or even statements of account didn't come later. This has led to formation of artiste syndicates and some direct "track download on payment" models.

[Sundara Rajan]

The two separate volumes of CD's in two separate cases, with names of the accompanists included, must be a more recent edition. It is nice that the Saregama company chose to credit the accompanists. Better late than never ! As an added bonus to R.K.Sriramkumar and K.V.Prasad, they also have been made Sangita Kalanidhis ! The "two volumes in one case" that I purchased in 1999/2000 for Rs. 650 mentioned only Sangita Kalanidhis (spelled correctly ! ) Semmangudi.R.Srinivasa Iyer & M.S.Subbulakshmi.

Incidentally, none of the so called live recordings CD's of Jesudas, that I have, mention the names of the accompanists.

[vasanthakokilam]

As an added bonus to R.K.Sriramkumar and K.V.Prasad, they also have been made Sangita Kalnidhis !

Fixed it for you.

No implication of course that any of them are promoted to 'Stone Quarry barons in Central Karnataka who also have plenty of kAlA nidhi'

[Rsachi]

Folks, did anyone notice that MSS shows a much better sense of humour than the laconic SSI as she looks at the typo in that photograph and he looks at the typesetter?

We well know how SSI was loathe to confer Kal(a) nidhis freely on artistes. On the other hand, when MSS received her Bharata Ratna, she said, "there is a Bharata Ratna hidden in each one of us."

[Sundara Rajan]

Thank you Vasanthakokilam, for fixing my typo of kalanidhis.

[vasanthakokilam]

No problem SR, hope you took it in the humorous vein I meant it in.

Folks, did anyone notice that MSS shows a much better sense of humour than the laconic SSI as she looks at the typo in that photograph and he looks at the typesetter

Ha..ha. Nice re-interpretation of the cover It just would not have worked had it been the other way around