The Hindi music industry is currently going through a major identity crisis. Just a few days ago, on January 27, 2026, Arijit Singh, the absolute king of playback singing, announced he is stepping away from the film world. While he plans to focus on independent and classical music, his exit at the peak of his career has exposed a huge, ugly gap in how Bollywood treats its talent.
If the industry’s most bankable voice is walking away, what hope is there for everyone else? This week, Abhijeet Sawant, the first-ever Indian Idol winner, joined the debate with some blunt truths. Appearing on the Pentarise Studios YouTube channel, he laid out exactly why the current system is designed to keep singers on the bottom rung.
‘They don’t want you to be a star’
According to Sawant, there is a deliberate effort to ensure singers don’t overshadow the films they sing for. “People don’t want the singers to become bigger than the film itself. That’s why they are paid a certain amount,” he said. He pointed out the most frustrating part of the job: the total lack of royalties.
In Bollywood, a singer usually gets a one-time fee. Once that check is cashed, they don’t see another rupee, no matter if the song gets a billion streams. Sawant compared this to the West, using the example of composer Biddu (of Kung Fu Fighting fame). Because of international royalty laws, Biddu reportedly earns around Rs 74 lakh to Rs 84 lakh every single month from just a few hits. “He can survive his whole life on that money,” Sawant said during the interaction. “We don’t even get enough to sustain our livelihood.”
A culture of fear and ‘greed’
But why do singers keep saying yes to bad deals? Sawant shared that the artists themselves are often part of the problem. There is a ‘fear of being replaced’ that haunts every recording studio. If you ask for more money or rights, there are ten other talented singers waiting in line to do it for free.
He explained that many singers are ‘greedy for opportunities.’ They hope that if a massive star lip-syncs to their voice on screen, they can live off the fame by doing live shows and weddings for the rest of their lives. Producers know this and use it as leverage. “We accept whatever amount we get, because if we don’t do it, someone else will. We get exploited a lot.”