Election campaign songs: A multi-million taka market

At the capital’s Farmgate intersection, a song is playing with the familiar tune of recent hit ‘Dushtu Kokil’. But the lyrics have been changed to “Those of you nearby, swept up in the election fever.” Set to the melody of ‘Dushtu Kokil’, the song now praises an election candidate.

Over the past three days, visits to several areas of Dhaka—including Shahbagh, Karwan Bazar, Agargaon, Mohakhali and Khilkhet—show that most of the songs used in campaigning for the 13th parliamentary election are based on copied tunes.

Election songs are most commonly heard set to the melodies of popular tracks such as ‘Morar Kokile’, ‘Buk Chin Chin Korche’, ‘Tikatulir Morey Ekta Hall Royeche’, ‘Ammajan’, ‘Khairun Lo’, ‘Rupbane Nache Komor Dulaiya’, ‘Biyain Shab’, ‘Deora’, ‘Noya Daman’, ‘Dushtu Kokil’, ‘Lage Ura Dhura’ and ‘O Bondhu Lal Golapi’.

In Khilkhet, a song blasting from a mobile campaign loudspeaker goes, “The parliamentary election is here / Listen, all the voters.” The tune is taken from the song ‘Buk Chin Chin Korche’, originally composed by Ali Akram Shuvo, sung by Andrew Kishore and Dolly Sayontoni in the film ‘Bastob’.

Similarly, candidates have commissioned election songs by replacing the lyrics of popular tracks by artists such as Ayub Bachchu, Khalid Hasan Milu, Kanak Chapa, Baby Naznin, Momtaz, Asif, Mila, Kona and Pritom Hasan.

Music analysts say songs have been used for decades to woo voters. However, with the spread of technology, the number of election campaign songs has surged over the past five to seven years.

When looked into the matter, it was revealed that election songs are being recorded at several studios in Dhaka’s Mogbazar, Bijoynagar and Uttara. More than 200 songs have been recorded at Rayhan Recording Studio in Uttara alone.

Owner of the studio, Rayhan Mia, told Prothom Alo that they produce election songs based on any tune candidates prefer, including ‘Buk Chin Chin Korche’, ‘Noya Daman’ and ‘Lage Ura Dhura’.

“We send a demo to the candidate and ask which tune they want. We then write the lyrics to that tune and immediately record the song with singers,” said Rayhan Mia.

Thanks to easy access to technology, recording studios have also spread beyond Dhaka. At Raj Ad Media in Chandpur, election songs are being produced around the clock in three shifts.

Asked about the number of songs, the studio’s owner, Rabbi Raj, told Prothom Alo, “Candidates don’t do just one song. For many candidates, we do more than 10 or 12 songs. Supporters and activists ‘gift’ these songs to the candidates for campaigning.”

“Altogether, around 2,500 songs have been recorded in one and a half months. Most of the lyrics are almost identical—only the candidate’s name, symbol and constituency are changed,” he added.

Rabbi Raj said that they use the tunes of ‘Morar Kokile’, ‘Buk Chin Chin Korche’, ‘Tikatulir Morey Ekta Hall Royeche’, ‘Ammajan’ and ‘Khairun Lo’ most frequently.

When asked why such interest in these particular tunes, he replied, “These are popular songs. Voters can easily connect with these melodies, so their demand from the clients is high.”

Explaining how the songs are made, Rabbi Raj said, “Many people send an original song and ask us to turn it into an election song. The tune and rhythm stay the same—only the lyrics are made election-centric. We add a voice track over the lyrics, which is auto-edited. It takes us five minutes to make one song.”

Both Raj Ad Media and Rayhan Recording Studio use several amateur singers to provide vocals.

Apart from human singers, songs are also being produced using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Rayhan Mia said that around 30 of the more than 200 songs recorded at his studio were created using AI, marking the first time they have used AI to compose songs in an election.

In response to the question how does it work, Rayhan said, “You just feed the lyrics into the AI and it produces the song. It generates four versions of a song, and we give the client the one with the clearest pronunciation.”

Music analysts say a multi-million taka market has emerged around election songs based on copied tunes. With the election campaign underway, thousands of songs are being produced at more than a hundred studios, involving over 5,000-6,000 people.

Studios charge Tk 2,000-3,000 per song. As many as 2,700 songs have been recorded at Raj Ad Media and Rayhan Recording Studio alone. Even at an average of Tk 2,000 per song, the total exceeds Tk 5 million (50 lakh).

There is no precise count of how many songs have been produced this election season. Analysts say this election has seen the highest number of election songs being produced in memory, pushing the market well beyond several million of taka.

Speaking to several artistes and composers, including Baby Naznin, singer of the song ‘Morar Kokile’, it was found that these studios did not seek permission from anyone to use the original tunes. Some studios also admitted this.

Former registrar of Bangladesh Copyright Office, Zafar Raja Chowdhury told Prothom Alo, “You cannot use someone else’s tune verbatim without permission, whether it’s for elections or any other purpose.”

Copying a song’s tune or changing its lyrics without the permission of the rights holders (composer or lyricist) violates Section 69 of the Copyright Act, 2023.

The Bangladesh Lyricists, Composers and Performers Society (BLCPS), which works to protect the copyright and other interests of lyricists, composers and singers, says the issue has come to its attention.

BLCPS chief executive officer Hamin Ahmed told Prothom Alo, “In most cases, tunes are being misused without permission. Using a tune without permission is completely illegal.”

Pointing finger at the studios, he added, “After all, these songs are being produced in the studios. This is in no way acceptable.”

Under copyright law, unauthorised use of a tune can lead to up to four years in prison or a fine of up to Tk 500,000.

However, some believe public awareness of the law remains low. When informed about the legal violations, Rayhan Mia, owner of Rayhan Studio, said he was unaware of the law.