MUMBAI: Indian music labels are facing a different kind of music. Since this morning, a posse of 50 officers from the Enforcement Directorate have been on a mission all over India at the offices of leading music labels such as YRF Music, Saregama, T-Series, Sony and Universal Music. Searches are being conducted with the intent to collate documents – relating to financial transactions, and details of songs they have exploited over the years.

Sources reveal that the search is being conducted following a filing of a case by a Padma Bhushan awardee Shubha Mudgal that India’s leading labels have been siphoning hundreds of crores and not passing royalties to artistes as necessitated by the Copyright Act. The complaint was filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act .

“The idea is to help singers and musicians get an equitable share of revenue for their compositions and songs. The documents will allow us to proceed in that direction,” says the source.

Sources say that even music industry bodies such as IPRS and PPL also fall under the purview of the ongoing investigation.

Attempts to connect with the heads of the music label came to naught at the time of writing.

So stay tuned until we get a reaction.