4 min readChennaiMar 28, 2026 01:29 PM IST
Amaal Mallik recently broke down the music royalty system in India and explained how the master rights of any song remain with the label, while the rest of the team — singer, composer and lyricist — receive only a small share of the publishing rights. He also revealed how he earned only Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh for composing the song “Sooraj Dooba Hai”, which has gone on to earn around Rs 100 crore in royalties over the years.
Speaking to Zoom, Amaal said, “There is royalty system implemented from 2020. Javed Akhtar sahab fought very hard for it. Actor feels that if they are standing in a song so the song will be a hit. That is only 50% true. The rest 50% credit goes to lyric writer, music composer, director and then last comes to singer. Singers are important, but they are not the creators of the song. These four pillars of the sound are all needing rights of the song. Music producers don’t have right to their songs but in the west that category also has rights to the song.” For the unversed, Sooraj Dooba Hain” featured in Ranbir Kapoor’s 2015 film Roy.
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Sooraj Dooba Hai was made in Rs 10 lakh, the song has made Rs 100 crore
Giving an example of his own song, he said, “As an Indian system, we are very much behind the west. Because Taylor Swift has master royalties, she could buy back the album and release it in her own way. Like for the song, Sooraj Dooba Hai, I got Rs 8 lakh, and I gave everything in that. I had to run my house, make this song. It would have taken Rs 10 lakh max. The song was made in Rs 8-10 lakh. My understanding is on an average in the last 12 years, the song has made Rs 65 crore, I had reviewed this 7 years back. Now, it would have made Rs 100 crore. Now, the song which was made in Rs 10 lakh has earned Rs 100 crore and what they would have given us was Rs 15-20 lakh. This includes everything – the engineer, the place, the food – everything, but not royalty.”
He added, “I paid my team in that amount. After paying for everything, I get salary of Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh after doing one song. That is why my mother said ‘you don’t even do shows, you are leaving films, then how are you going to live?’ But God is kind. After doing 130 songs, why must my mother worry about from where will we get the food?”
Amaal further highlighted how singers overseas have master rights to their songs. He said, “In India, singers have publishing rights, like I will get Rs 20 lakh per year for Sooraj Dooba Hain but that song has earned Rs 100 crore. So, there is a disparity. So, 95% share of the song goes to the label. Now, that song is not mine anymore. The label can do anything, they can remix it if they want. I can’t do anything about it but pray that they credit me.” He added, “If you see the global share of royalties, 95% from that will go to the label and the rest of the team will share from the remaining 5%.”
The song was released under T-Series’ label. None of their representatives have commented on their earnings from this particular song.
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Royalties in Indian music industry
Javed Akhtar played a pivotal part in the passing of the Copyright (Amendment) Act in 2012. The Act, which safeguarded the rights of writers, lyricists, music composers, actors, authors, and other creative professionals. At the time, Javed Akhtar faced a lot of opposition from the film industry as many of his old collegues stopped working with him. With the royalties being distribued among the creators, the producers had to take a huge cut and this did not go well with them.
DISCLAIMER :This article discusses personal financial experiences and industry-specific royalty structures within the entertainment sector. The figures and narratives shared are based on individual accounts and are intended for informational and storytelling purposes rather than as professional financial or legal advice.
