Archive · 1 Oct 2026
Babul Supriyo Revisits Sonu Nigam Royalty Dispute
Babul Supriyo and Sonu Nigam once argued about how singers should be paid.
The disagreement happened in 2005 at a music gathering.
Sonu said the argument was verbal, not a physical fight.
The issue involved royalties, which are payments artists can receive when their music is used again.
Babul said he worried that music companies might punish singers who asked for a fair share.
He compared their disagreement with a similar dispute between Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.
Lata and Rafi stopped singing together for several years after their argument.
Babul says he and Sonu are now friendly, and that music’s digital growth has improved the situation.
Babul Supriyo said his 2005 disagreement with Sonu Nigam concerned singers’ royalty rights.
The argument reportedly occurred at Aadesh Shrivastava’s birthday gathering in Mumbai and was not physical, according to Sonu Nigam.
Babul compared the dispute with the earlier royalty disagreement between Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.
He said older royalty contracts often benefited singers mainly when they had hit songs, leaving others without payments.
Babul said he and Sonu are now on good terms and that digital music has created a larger revenue pool for artists.
- Who
- Singers Babul Supriyo and Sonu Nigam were involved; the discussion also concerned Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi’s earlier dispute.
- What
- A disagreement over singers’ royalties and revenue-sharing arrangements was revisited by Babul Supriyo.
- When
- The Babul-Sonu argument took place in 2005; Babul discussed it recently with SCREEN.
- Where
- The 2005 argument reportedly occurred at Aadesh Shrivastava’s birthday celebration at Sun-n-Sand in Juhu, Mumbai.
- Why
- The dispute centered on whether singers should receive continuing payments when their music is used and how music companies handled those payments.
Royalty Advocates
Traditional Payment View
Whether singers should receive continuing royalties
Royalty Advocates
Lata Mangeshkar, Sonu Nigam and other advocates argued that singers should receive payments when their recordings continue to generate income.
Traditional Payment View
The opposing view, associated with Mohammed Rafi’s position as described by Lata, was that singers were paid by producers for what they sang and should not receive additional payments.
Risk of challenging music companies
Royalty Advocates
Babul said artists deserved fairer royalty arrangements and that singers with fewer hit songs were often deprived of royalties.
Traditional Payment View
Babul also said he feared music companies could act against singers who demanded royalties, including by withholding songs or seeking shares from performances.
- Main issue
- Royalties and revenue-sharing for singers
- Babul-Sonu dispute
- A heated verbal exchange was reported in 2005
- Reported venue
- Sun-n-Sand, Juhu, Mumbai
- Singers’ association
- Sonu Nigam and Alka Yagnik had formed the Singers’ Association of India
- Historical comparison
- Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi had a royalty disagreement in 1963
- Cold-war duration
- Lata and Rafi reportedly avoided singing together for three to four years
- Current relationship
- Babul said he and Sonu are now in a good space
- Music market change
- Babul said digital music has greatly increased the money generated by music