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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Assamese was, of course, his mother tongue, the language in which he thought and dreamed, the linguistic landscape that felt like home. But the Northeast’s complex demographics meant that multilingualism was practical necessity as much as cultural richness.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Shortly before the 2024 election that would move him back into the White House, Donald Trump took a phone call on his plane from a secret supporter.Nicki Minaj was on the line, and she wanted Trump to know she was supporting his re-election, according to people familiar with the matter.Trump’s campaign managers, sensing an opportunity to score an endorsement from the rap world’s most popular female star, asked Minaj to take her support public. But Minaj—and her management team—said she needed to stay behind the scenes because taking a political stance posed a risk to her brand and businesses, some of these people said.Not anymore.Today, the 43-year-old best known for chart toppers like “Starships,” for leading an online army of mega-fans known as “Barbz” and for bringing a theatrical streak to contemporary hip hop has embraced a new status atop MAGA’s A-list.She has visited Trump in the Oval Office, spoken in support of administration priorities at the United Nations and encouraged her tens of millions of social-media followers to lobby their legislators on the White House’s behalf.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.For strict institutional gatekeepers, Billboard has been quite lax about allowing fake artists on its charts. By November, several AI performers were featured, including country music’s Breaking Rust and R&B’s Xania Monet.It’s the kind of casual absurdity that AI music startups like Suno are hoping will become, well, casual. “The technology finally allows for billions of people to be creative, to have the fruits of their labor, to feel fulfillment in a different way,” Suno co-founder Mikey Shulman told Forbes in April.But the inclusion of those fruits—AI creations—on the music charts is an existential emergency signal, raising logistical questions for the music industry.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: The few seconds of music you hear while waiting for someone to answer a phone call is copyrighted intellectual property, and telecom operators offering caller tunes may now need separate licences and royalty payments to lyricists and composers after a recent Calcutta High Court ruling.On 8 May, the Calcutta High Court ruled against Vodafone Idea in its long-running dispute with the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), holding that telecom operators cannot offer caller tunes and ringtones solely on the basis of licences obtained from music labels.Mint explains the ruling and what it could mean for telecom operators and digital platforms.The dispute centres on whether telecom operators offering caller tunes and ringtones require separate licences from lyricists and composers, apart from licences obtained from music labels such as Saregama.Telecom companies treat caller tunes as a value-added service, a paid add-on beyond regular calling and SMS facilities that generates additional revenue and improves user engagement.Vodafone Idea signed agreements with Saregama in 2014 to use songs for caller tune services. However, IPRS argued that while music labels may own sound recordings, lyricists and composers retain separate rights over the underlying literary and musical works under the Copyright Act, particularly after the 2012 amendments that strengthened creators’ royalty rights.In 2018, Vodafone Idea approached the Calcutta High Court challenging IPRS’s claim that telecom operators required separate licences and royalty payments for using songs as caller tunes and ringtones.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Soon after I started using AI assistants, I had an alarming realization. I had started to enjoy listening to music with ChatGPT rather than with people. I neither felt compelled to share my music nor did I pass on any interesting information about songs and artists.AI is really fantastic at talking about music.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: The copyright dispute between the Reliance-Disney joint venture and Zee Entertainment has been referred to mediation after both sides agreed to explore an amicable settlement.Mint has seen the 5 May order passed by Justice Tejas Karia, which stated that “with the consent of the Parties, they are referred to mediation before the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre (DHCMCC), where they shall appear on 20 May”. Both sides have sought the appointment of a senior mediator.Mint’s queries sent to Zee Entertainmentremained unanswered till press time.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.India’s music industry is finally witnessing a long-awaited shift from free to paid consumption, with revenues and subscriptions climbing steadily.Yet the transition remains fragile. Sustaining the move from free to paid listening is critical, especially at a time when AI-generated versions of songs threaten to divert streams from original works and pirated sources continue to undercut legitimate consumption.Speaking to Mint, Victoria Oakley, chief executive officer of IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry)—the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide—said the recent uptick in paid streaming marks a long-promised transition for India.However, she cautioned that the regulatory framework around AI remains unclear, even as governments, including India’s, grapple with how to balance technological innovation with rights protection and fair monetization for the creative community.According to a recent Ficci EY report, the Indian music segment, measured as revenues earned by music labels from licensing and other income, grew by 10% to reach ₹5900 crore in 2025.

TV shows, India lacks a dedicated regulatory framework for music. This, lawyers and industry experts say, creates legal and commercial uncertainty, undermining an artiste’s ability to monetise their work and make creative decisions with confidence.

Read the full story by Dhirendra Kumar.SpaceX eyes historic debut: SpaceX is heading to the stock market. Reports suggest a potential $75 billion IPO, bigger than Saudi Aramco, with a staggering valuation nearing $2 trillion.But this isn’t just another listing. With businesses spanning rockets, satellite internet (Starlink), AI (via xAI), and X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX is no longer just aerospace, it’s an integrated tech giant.

Mint. “This let the impersonator collect the publishing royalties, while my artist page absorbed the poor performance signals from the fake streams.”Tewari says the tracks weren’t just misattributed but appeared to be generated and uploaded at scale.

music labels that historically owned or administered the sound recording rights, as well as licensing agencies that collect royalties on their behalf, agreed Sonam Chandwani, managing partner, KS Legal & Associates.Once the statutory term expires, the recording effectively enters the public domain and any person is legally entitled to perform, broadcast or commercially use that recording without obtaining a licence from the original rights holder.“This development is beneficial for businesses such as hotels, restaurants, event organisers, broadcasters and digital content creators because it removes the obligation to pay licensing fees for the use of those specific recordings. Conversely, it reduces the ability of legacy music companies to exercise exclusive control over certain parts of their catalogue.

Drumah sapushpaah salilam sapadyam, streeyah sakama pavanah sugandhih |Sukhaah pradosha divsashch ramyaah, sarvam priye charutaram vasante ||The meaning of the verse is as follows: Oh beloved! everything has turned so beautiful during spring time. Trees are laden with flowers, ponds are full of lotus, air is scented, evenings pleasant and days are delightful.I entered my housing society park with a lot of enthusiasm to meditate, but failed. Why? Incredible decibel assault was on from the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway in the vicinity.

playback singing remain skewed. Most singers are paid a one-time fee, while ownership and much of the long-term digital earnings stay with producers and music labels.Industry experts say the issue is particularly acute for newer names, even though the debate has been triggered by established voices.Depending on popularity and stature, established singers can earn upwards of ₹25 lakh per song.

John Lennon wrote and recorded a song in 1975 with these evocative lyrics: So this is Christmas/ What have you done?/ Another year over/ And a new one just begun. This song was part of his anti-war activism, but the words could apply to various causes.As the sun sets on 2025 and the calendar gets reset for 2026, it might be worthwhile to take a moment to reflect upon what whizzed past as a means of getting a better handle on what awaits us.

Jaws, which I remember watching with my eyes closed and ears plugged with fingers. The sharks circled my cage, bumping it, rocking it wildly, battering it so they could get at me. One came close to severing a metal bar and breaking into the cage.

Last week, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) released a working paper on ‘Generative AI and Copyright,’ recommending a ‘hybrid model’ that it claims will balance the need to promote AI development with creator rights. It suggests that AI companies in India should pay a mandatory blanket licence fee (a percentage of their global revenue) for using copyrighted materials to train their models. It recommends the establishment of a body called the Copyright Royalties Collective for AI Training (CRCAT) that will collect licence fees from AI developers for distribution to registered creators through existing Collective Management Organisations (CMOs).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. MUMBAI: Automation tools are rapidly reshaping the economics of digital marketing and creative services. Tasks that once required teams of designers, website builders and editors are now being completed in minutes, cutting both billing cycles and the need for large production teams at some of the world’s biggest IT and advertising-linked firms.

India? Symbols of national pride and struggle shouldn’t be seen from a religious prism as they transcend such limited boundaries.The uninitiated should know that Vande Mataram is not just a film song. Bengali author Bankim Chandra Chatterjee penned it in 1875. Later he included the song in his famous novel “Anand Math”.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When Parvaiz tried to impress Emraan Hashmi with an off-key version of ‘Kaho na kaho’ in The Ba***ds of Bollywood, the homage to Bollywood’s ‘serial kisser’ went viral.

Fans who sat down to enjoy the newly re-released Beatles Anthology documentary this Thanksgiving noticed something was a little off. John Lennon’s guitar, in one performance, seemed to have about 10 strings.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When Sabrina Carpenter toured in 2024, her performance of the song “Juno" was often a bawdy concert highlight. The singer would pretend to arrest a fan with pink handcuffs, and as she sang the line “Have you ever tried this one?" she would mischievously act out a different sex position.