Singer helped by tape piracy, Gulf Daily News, December 19th/20th 1985
A Ghazal singer from India claims that audio-cassette piracy in the Gulf has only added to her popularity.
Vatsala Mehra, who is based in Washington, said six albums carrying more than 40 of her popular songs have been released in Bombay over the past five years.
And all the albums have been pirated by companies, which are mainly based in Hong Kong and Dubai.
“However, pirated cassettes, which are cheaper than the original ones, have helped to popularize our live shows, though they have affected the royalties from the recording companies,” she said.
“We are not worried because even popular artists don’t survive on royalty.”
Vatsala, in Bahrain to attend a private show at the Sheraton Hotel, was accompanied by her singer brother, Vibhu Kapoor.
Vibhu was co-singer with her in her last album Hasrat, and they are the first brother-sister team in India to sing ghazals.
Daughter of Bombay businessman, D.K. Kapoor, Vatsala moved to Washington with her husband, Jawahar Mehra, in 1974.
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