It seemed like a bolt from the blue. When The Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) released a draft circular earlier this month, it sent shockwaves among the independent music community. The copyrights body wrote that it was mulling the idea of charging '20,000 for those live online gigs under two hours that don't have any sponsors, and '60,000 for those that do. Many musicians had their head in their hands, because the circular left more questions than answers. Would people have to pay even for free gigs? What about performing songs that don't fall under the IPRS repertoire? And who would the money eventually go to? These were some of the questions doing the rounds among people in the music circuit.

But there are finally some clear-cut answers to these queries. Speaking exclusively to mid-day, IPRS CEO Rakesh Nigam states categorically that firstly, the previous '20,000 figure is now out of the window. Nigam says, "I am in advanced level talks with EEMA [Events and Entertainment Management Association, another industry body] about rationalising the tariff rate, and we should come out with a revised structure sometime next week."