Arijit Singh’s decision to withdraw from playback singing has reignited long-standing questions about how singers are treated and compensated in the film industry. As fans and industry insiders grapple with the loss of one of Hindi film’s most influential voices, concerns have also been raised about the fate of far less powerful and well-known artists. Against this backdrop, singer Abhijeet Sawant spoke openly about remuneration, royalties and systematic exploitation of playback singers.

“People don’t want singers to be bigger than the movies.”

Appearing on Pentarise Studios’ YouTube channel, Abhijeet was directly asked about the payment structure for film music. Despite his initial hesitation, he explained why singers are often paid only a fixed and limited amount of money.

“People don’t want the singer to be bigger than the movie itself. That’s why you get paid a certain amount. Musicians still do not receive royalties for film music. Biddu, the man behind Lafzon Mein, has also performed several songs in the West and received so much royalties from two of them that he could live on for the rest of his life. We don’t even get enough money to sustain our livelihood,” he said.

“You can take as much as you want.”

Abhijeet went on to explain how this system persists because singers themselves fear losing opportunities. He says many artists agree to unfair conditions just to have their voices featured in movies.“They’ve created such a system. Singers themselves are hungry for opportunities and know, ‘If this song is released with my voice and a big star lip-syncing, I can use this song for the rest of my life.'” Singers themselves don’t want money, they just want to sing or work with a certain producer. We will accept whatever amount we get. Because if we don’t do it, someone else will. We are often exploited,” he said.

Arijit Singh announces retirement from playback singing

Earlier, Arijit Singh shocked his fans by announcing that he would not take up any new playback singing assignments. Sharing the news on Instagram, the singer wrote, “Hello everyone, Happy New Year. I would like to thank you all for giving me so much love over the years as a listener. I am happy to announce that I will no longer be taking on any new duties as a playback vocalist. That will be cancelled. It has been an amazing journey.””