Singer Shamoon Ismail allegedly threatened by media company

Artist claims being forced by Karachi-based record label to sell rights to his 2013 hit ‘Jatt Blues’

KARACHI: Singer Shamoon Ismail became popular with his signature Punjabi blues music after churning out tracks such as Tuntuna and Jutt Blues several years ago. On September 24, the independent artist tweeted he is being threatened to sell rights to Jutt Blues by a Karachi-based company Media Concepts.

“A company from Karachi called Media Concepts has been asking for exclusive rights (ownership) of my song Jutt Blues since June. They've approached us through different people but I kept refusing because they never tell us why they need the song or who exactly needs it,” Shamoon posted. “I refused one guy, then another and then a woman, all approaching me with a different game plan but none giving any proper information. So, I connected the dots and realised it's the same people and told them we can only work a deal if I know who needs the song and what for.”

PHOTO: TWITTER/ SHAMOON ISMAIL

Shamoon claimed that although the company’s attempts to buy his song failed in the last few months, he received a threatening message on September 24. “The woman called my manager and told her that the remake of Jutt Blues is almost ready and the company is going to put it out ‘BY HOOK OR BY CROOK’,” he wrote.

The 27-year-old singer also shed light on the plight of being an independent artist in Pakistan. He mentioned he has been on his own since day one and not signed with any record label because “I want to own my music, have total creative freedom, be my own boss and I can't just give away something that I put my life to.”

PHOTO: SCREENSHOT

Shamoon has been receiving offers from big labels since he released Tuntuna in 2013 but he chose the harder path because he wanted to create his own identity. He shared that the only reason he is putting this case out there is so that “my people know where things are going in case it gets dirty.”

The musician ended the series of tweets by saying he is not a “one-hit-wonder” and that if his music is plagiarised by the compnay, he will deal with them personally. “I'm not a one-hit-wonder. I live this, come at me with full force, I'll show you what I'm made of.”

A Media Concepts representative refused to comment on the matter.

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