Of melodies and rights

A Bangladeshi celebration of any kind is incomplete without the song 'Abaar elo je shondhya'; a child growing up with a gaaner teacher (music teacher) at home would know the lyrics and melody to the song 'Mamonia' by heart; finally professing one's love to the other or experiencing a lovers' squabble would remind one of the songs 'Ey neel monihar' and 'Aage jodi jantam'. Lucky Akhand's mesmerising melodies touch the hearts of many even today.

As he lies in the hospital bed trying to survive the deadly clutches of cancer, his evergreen melodies are still playing on someone's monetised youtube channel, being sung by one of the younger musicians on a TV live, sold to a content provider by a music label company or simply downloaded illegally from shady websites. Despite being a land of culture and music, we are yet to realise that a musician, a singer or a composer survive off of the music that s/he creates and the words that s/he writes.

As the news of Akhand's illness spread, fans and well wishers from all over the world have been sending all kinds of support from the USA, the Middle East, Singapore and also India. Clearly, Lucky Akhand's melodies have touched the hearts of so many Bangladeshi expatriates living in those countries. In addition, the last few weeks witnessed high officials from banks and multinationals operating within the country paying a visit to Akhand and offering financial support. Many individuals have also stepped forward to take care of Akhand's financial issues.

According to the copyright laws, Lucky Akhand is to get a share of every download, every piece of music that he created, not to mention from the different social media platforms that now allow revenues to accumulate once registered. If these copyright laws had been properly maintained and implemented by the authorities, Lucky Akhand, today, would have been wealthy enough to pay for his diagnosis, treatment and the daily rent for a hospital room. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Even though many have come forward to support Akhand – both financially and emotionally – the authorities, policy makers, investors and corporates are yet to understand and implement accordingly the copyrights laws, which would allow Akhand to claim his earnings through the various platforms.

Here's wishing the great maestro a speedy recovery, so that he can continue creating unique melodies for us and put Bangladesh on the global map, in the field of music.

To help Lucky Akhand, please donate whatever you can to the following:

Lucky Akhand, AC: 162-101-137369, Ducth Bangla Bank