Varun Grover, Swanand Kirkire slam music streaming apps for not giving credit to lyricists

National-award winning lyricist and writer Varun Grover, Swanand Kirkire, Neelesh Misra, and others opened a war against music streaming platforms recently. On Sunday, July 18, in a series of tweets, Varun Grover shared that a music label has not given him and fellow lyricist Sagar Desai lyrics credit in the album of Rajat Kapoor's Ankhon Dekhi (2014). He added that even after "repeated requests" the music label did not pay heed. 

Varun Grover wrote, "Wrote lyrics for #AnkhonDekhi in 2014 with Sagar Desai as the composer. The music company @TimesMusicHub didn't put the music online even after repeated requests. Now I find they put the full album jukebox in 2018 but have NOT CREDITED me & Sagar Desai." (sic) A few hours later, Varun Grover revealed that with Mayur Puri's intervention, the music label added his and Sagar Desai's name into the credit roll. Varun Grover's tweets motivated other lyricists to speak-up on the issue, which was followed by a barrage of tweets by Swanand Kirkire, Neelesh Mishra, and other people from the music industry. 

Here are Varun Grover's tweets: 

Wrote lyrics for #AnkhonDekhi in 2014 with Sagar Desai as the composer. The music company @TimesMusicHub didn't put the music online even after repeated requests.

Now I find they put the full album jukebox in 2018: https://t.co/I0CmROURff but have NOT CREDITED me & Sagar Desai.

— वरुण 🇮🇳 (@varungrover) July 18, 2020

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Swanand Kirkire and Neelesh Mishra slam music streaming platforms 

Joining Varun Grover in the debate, Swanand Kirkire posted a series of screenshots where the name of the lyricist was missing from the main credits. He said, "There is no custom to write the name of a lyric writer on these music apps." (sic) Swanand further added that not crediting lyricist for songs is a "fundamental error"(sic). 

इन म्यूज़िक apps पर तो लिरिक राइटर का नाम लिखने का रिवाज ही नहीं है . जो thumbnail producer ने दिया उसपर महीन menssion है पर अंदर जैसे हर गाने पर composer का नाम है , गीतकार का नहीं . लिरिक्स प्रिंट तो किए हैं नाम नहीं कर पाये @brahmatmajay @varungrover @FilmCompanion @Spotify pic.twitter.com/mQXzkq9dwH

— Swanand Kirkire (@swanandkirkire) July 18, 2020

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Swanand Kirkire, who has penned lyrics for movies like PK (2014), 3 Idiots (2009), Singham (2011), among others, further in a series of tweets, questioned various music streaming apps about the lack of credit for the lyricist. He pointed out that streaming platforms provide due credit to music composer and singer. "They don’t consider Lyricists as Artists," (sic) said Swanand Kirkire in a tweet.  

क्या Kal ho na ho , Rockstar , 3Idiots , Gangs of Wasseypur.. TerI Mitti (Single) में Lyric Writer का नाम नहीं होना चाहिए ? आप खुद देख लीजिए नामों निशान नहीं है @Spotify बाक़ी apps के शॉट्स कल लगाऊँगा pic.twitter.com/k8fvBgvvTy

— Swanand Kirkire (@swanandkirkire) July 21, 2020

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Meanwhile, lyricist Neelesh Misra, who has been associated with movies like Barfi! (2012), Jagga Jasoos (2017), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), among others said that the practice of not providing due credit to lyricists has been going on for ages. Neelesh Misra said, "Music launches have been held without the lyricist getting prominence. For years, lyricwriters have got no mention on most radio stations or TV reality shows playing songs. And now OTT platforms have taken the same route. The lyricwriter stands at the end of the line." (sic) 

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Besides Varun Grover, Swanand Kirkire, and Neelesh Misra, lyricists like Kausar Munir, music composer Shantanu Moitra, actor Amit Sadh also have expressed their views on the issue of not giving due credits to the lyricist. While Kausar applauded Varun, Swanand, and Neelesh, Shantanu Moitra asked for justice and the name of the lyricist on the main credit roll of a song.