United We Stand?

June 21, 2009

Rohail HyattForming a union for musicians is a noble initiative and one which has also been taken in the past [Association of Music Professionals of Pakistan (AMPP) formed in April 2006] albeit without any visible success.

There is again talk of a section of the musician community in Pakistan getting together to form another union — tentatively called the United Musicians of Pakistan (UMP). There are rumours of them ‘merging’ with the AMPP, but for the sake of clarity the ‘new’ union will be referred to as the UMP in this article.

Having spoken to some of the musicians who took the initiative of organising this union, the major objectives are: copyrights to the artistes’ music will not be sold, to curb the infiltration of Indian music in the local media, observe a certain minimum standard fee and rules with corporate bodies interested in supporting musicians that will not collide with the interests of others, etc.

Approximately two months into formation, there is still no official presence, no board, no official regulations or objectives. Everything to do with the union is still very much steeped in abstractions. One hopes that perhaps in the near future they’d be able to work these issues out in more concrete form.

However, the move has been met with a lot of cynicism by those who perceive it as an attempt by several mainstream musicians, whose presence and work in India has stopped following the Mumbai attacks, and who have willingly signed away the copyrights to their music to the label, seeking to undo it.

A true union for the musicians would serve the interests of all its members, including those who form their backing band, session’s players, and those who contribute to the music but do not represent the band on the mainstream media, are not in the limelight and get a nominal fee for their work.

Who better to ask about the musicians’ union than those who may directly or indirectly be affected by it? Images on Sunday sent out questionnaires to quite a few mainstream artistes and were met with a 30 per cent response rate. Those who did not respond cited the following reasons: lack of interest/belief in any union, not knowing enough about it and/or not wanting to say anything till an “official” statement had been released by the organising body – despite being told that the questions did probe into the official workings of the union.

For those proactive individuals who did not shy away from responding, we asked the following questions and were given the following answers:

Q. Are you a member? Have you been approached to be a member?

Arieb Azhar: I was (as far as I know, I still am) a member of the AMPP. I haven’t been approached to be a UMP member yet.

Faisal Rafi: No. I am not a member and no, I have not been approached to become a member either.
Farhad Humayun: I am not a member.

Farooq Ahmed: No. I didn’t even know until you told me.

Louis J. Pinto (Gumby): I am not a member and nor have I been asked to be one. I’m not very clear on what the agenda is of this organisation. Neither is it clear about who the board members are. Once things are clear one can be a better judge.

Mekaal Hasan: Yes.

Omran Shafique: I have not officially joined yet, but I am planning on it.

Rohail Hyatt: No.

Q. Would you join if you were extended the invitation?

Faisal Rafi: I would consider it, yes. But only after I know that this is for positive development and not just to create confrontation.

Farhad Humayun: Not really interested in joining any protest because it’s useless. I formed The System which was meant to promote performance and be a platform for new as well as established artistes. We’ve been delayed because our funding has been delayed.

I don’t think Indian music should be banned nor should English or German or Hungarian for that matter. We have an identity that’s very strong and we will shine through no matter what. Channels play more Indian music than Pakistani because there’s not enough material coming out of Pakistan at the moment. Shafqat, Strings, Atif Aslam, Ali Zafar have all benefited from their Indian ventures and have received acclaim in their countries after becoming famous. They should have declined all that work also.

Farooq Ahmed: I have to have the details of what’s going on. I can’t really say anything right now.
Gumby: I would definitely join the organisation if asked, but on the basis of the whole “music” industry support and not just any individual or group of artistes’ agenda.

Omran Shafique: Yes.

Rohail Hyatt: I’m not sure. Depends on what it entails and how I may be able to help out.

Q. What do you think of these musicians forming a union? Practically speaking, is it a viable move?

Faisal Rafi: Yes, it is certainly a viable move. The music industry is not a hobby/cottage industry anymore, it has grown 1,000pc in the past 10 years, serious money is involved and artistes definitely need protection and representation in the right manner to protect their creative and legal interests.

Farhad Humayun: I want to help musicians spread music and find more opportunities to play because playing is what we are meant to do. We are supposed to put our work out there and let it be heard. I’m not interested in being unproductive and bitter, and being a nuisance or a rebel without a cause. I want to offer my services to the UMP as an event/recording facilitator, helping with getting funding and launching our own record label — a label that belongs to the musicians alone.

Farooq Ahmed: The last time this happened, Sajjad bhai already predicted that this won’t work. He had his reasons and now I can see why. But yes, this could work.

Gumby: I completely agree with the idea of unity but this seems more of a mainstream singers’ convention rather than a “musicians” association. I had been a part of a similar organisation in the past but unfortunately it didn’t just fall apart but also failed to set the standards right. If this is truly an act of musicians uniting then I think the first people who should be addressed are the back-up musicians of such mainstream artistes. A list of issues should be addressed as priority. The few that I can think of is a musician insurance/fund, fee structures based on percentages, copyright laws and so on.
mekaal-hasan
All of this is very much viable but based on honesty of course the key word here being “unity”. If achieved we will have a better future as artistes.

Mekaal Hasan: It’s a start. I had suggested to Bilal Maqsood of Strings that this union would be a good idea to address our problems, but that we need to operate under the aegis of a bigger body like the UPA which has significant clout and features members from the acting and production fields.

Omran Shafique: It’s a step we need to take. The industry has grown in recent years, and we need to make sure we are able to protect ourselves and guide others coming into the industry. We must have a united front. As for it being viable, that remains to be seen. It will take a lot of work and coordination.

Rohail Hyatt: Everyone is entitled to fight for their rights and survival. If unions are cool for other areas of professional work, then why not for musicians? Its viability depends on the sincerity of the members. If these artistes are willing to stand for their rights, then together they certainly form a stronger team than as individuals.

Q. The AMPP was established to safeguard the interests of the local musician community, which eventually died out. Why would the UMP work as a collective body for musicians?

Rohail Hyatt: I think there was a lack of sincerity among the members of the AMPP. I remember Ali Azmat running pillar to post trying to make it work but then there is a limit to how much one person can take on such a challenge single-handedly. Like I said earlier, the success of the UMP lies in the sincerity of its members towards their goal and vision which should be made clear from the start of such an organisation.
Omran Shafique
Omran Shafique: The AMPP was happening with a lot of uncertainty — and there was still some hope in musician’s minds that they could easily weather the storm. As things have become progressively worse, I think musicians are going to take things much more seriously now.

Mekaal Hasan: It died out because it was run by musicians. If a professional body which has legislative concerns doesn’t hire lawyers or seek to work with a bigger parent body to protect those concerns then it too will be toothless and be a bitching ground while the reality persists and the grip power structure in the form of channels, labels, organisers and sponsors is unhampered. For any union to have teeth, it must tackle issues which concern everyone not just a few chosen ones.

Faisal Rafi: The AMPP did not work simply because all the people involved were involved because of some personal issue rather than a collective set of issues and problems. Haroon was involved because a private satellite channel did not pay him right, Ali Azmat was involved because another private satellite channel was on a confrontation path, and similarly others were involved to settle some sort of personal grievance. There was no sense of the common ground all music professionals’ need to be on such as copyright issues, licensing, a floor on concert fee, a floor on charges in India. There were many things that required a more neutral approach as opposed to this gung-ho media heavy approach. Everyone knew about the AMPP, but it never really did anything besides having a few meetings.
gumby
Gumby: I believe the AMPP as an organisation was pretty much the same as the UMP. Just a name change actually, but I feel with the latter it’s more of a small group of mainstream artistes who are involved in this. For any organisation to function well it requires time, effort and unity. Unfortunately in a developing nation like ours and given the turmoil that we’re in, issues like this are the least of everyone’s concern, nonetheless the attempt is often made to resolve it. The race for survival is greater than the need for future financial stability or contracts, thus artistes are faced with short-term planning and are often led to situations which might not be the best for them.

Farooq Ahmed: Circumstances are very different right now. You can see that most of the musicians mentioned here were earning mostly from India. Now they can’t, so they turn back to Pakistan and find out that there is Indian sh** everywhere! It was always there, but they never cared to understand it then because their pockets were full. But this could work this time round because the sh** has really hit the fan.

Farhad Humayun: The AMPP didn’t do anything substantial. In fact I don’t think they ever did anything. So it doesn’t count at all.

Q. Afterthoughts?

Arieb Azhar: My opinion on the matter is that a union such as this can only make a difference once all the mirasi and session musicians are on board as well. So far there is as much exploitation by educated musicians with a business mind towards session and mirasi musicians as there is by the media moguls towards all musicians as such. Definitely certain things have to be addressed, such as the media channels not paying any royalty on running music videos and concerts. But again the benefits of such a musicians’ union need to reach all hard-working musicians and not just those who can speak English or have a business mind.

Having said this I would like to clarify that I am not against such a union in the least bit, and if some people have the time to really make it work then hats off to them. But I still feel that before something like this can work several other issues need to be addressed, such as the shortage of concert venues and the scarcity of music gigs in general in the whole country, and the branding of the ‘lowest denominator’ — pop music scene in a country where there is not enough happening for an alternative scene to develop. These issues are more pertinent to me.
Faisal Rafi: Unions are formed to address the common concerns of a group of professionals, and if the UMP is founded and run on those principles, it will change a lot of things over the long run.

Omran Shafique: It’s about darn time.

Rohail Hyatt: Artistes and musicians need help and encouragement from the media and people in general. It’s an uphill battle surviving in a place like Pakistan playing music and writing songs. These people stand up against all odds, get mocked by their family and society in general, to pursue their passion. They give memorable moments to us and if they are good at what they do, they even make us proud in a global perspective (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan comes to mind). We must aid them in their pursuit of their dream so that they may inspire others and more people can join their ranks. That will help us march towards becoming a nation that proudly expresses itself through creativity. If these people feel they need a union to survive, then we must understand that need and help them achieve it so that they can return to doing what they do best and inspire the generations to come.
Shahzad Hasan (Shahi)
Shahzad ‘Shahi’ Hasan: There is no insurgence of Indian music here. It has been a part of the pop music market since the birth of Pakistan.

Instead, they should spend the same time and effort on their own music and improve it better than the Indian artistes. Some of these artistes go to India record music, pay studio or get paid for it and not let our audiences enjoy better music here? What a dark day it would be for us when all we will be left is the current pop music of Pakistan to listen to… with a very few exceptions of course.

Indian music sells and nothing can stop it, even our music goes to India illegally, is pirated and sells a lot. Why is there no issue there? The ‘insurgence of Indian music’ even existed in the times of Vital Sings, Awaz, Junoon, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and even before, so how come these artistes never felt threatened by it then? All of these musicians, members of the UMP, would run to India to sell their own music if given a chance, so let’s not be hypocrites.

Drugs are even more harmful than Indian music can ever be, no one could stop them from spreading in the world because they sell. Maybe they should form an alliance about drug awareness, or Aids, birth control or poverty and dedicate earnings from shows towards that… or maybe the anti-piracy act. Don’t you think so? — Madeeha Syed

– Photo1: Rohail Hyatt (Photo by Rizwan-ul-Haq)
– Photo2: Shahi Hasan (Photo by Fayyaz Ahmed)
– Photo3: Mekaal Hasan
– Photo4: Gumby (Photo by Rizwan-ul-Haq)
– Photo5: Omran Shafique (Photo by Rizwan-ul-Haq)

Source: BANDBAJI | [ Madeeha Syed ]