In the bustling city of Guwahati, Assam, a unique private museum has taken shape within the home of 30-year-old Vishal Kalita. Over the course of more than a decade, Kalita has passionately collected obsolete music cassettes from across India, carefully preserving them in his residence. His collection has now expanded beyond tapes to include hundreds of CDs and rare posters depicting musicians from around the world. This treasure trove, opened to the public just last month, reflects not only Kalita’s dedication but also the rich musical heritage that these physical artifacts represent.
Among all the items housed in Kalita’s private museum, it is the discography of Zubeen Garg—a beloved singer and composer from Assam—that has attracted the greatest attention. Garg was a cultural icon in the state and beyond, with a career spanning over three decades and performances in more than 40 languages and dialects. His sudden death in Singapore last month left millions of fans grieving. Kalita’s collection contains approximately 38,000 of Garg’s songs, including rare recordings not available anywhere else today.
The significance of Kalita’s archive was underscored just days before Garg’s passing, when the singer himself visited Kalita’s home. Garg expressed that the collection reminded him of some of his “long-forgotten” creations, highlighting the personal and cultural value of such preservation efforts. Today, Kalita has joined a broader network of Garg’s fans and friends who are working to make the late singer’s extensive body of work more accessible through online streaming platforms, while also advocating for proper royalty payments to ensure financial support for his family.
Kalita’s motivation goes beyond mere fandom. He is deeply concerned about the physical degradation of these old cassettes, many of which are fragile and at risk of being lost forever. “Some of these cassettes are too old and can get damaged. I want to bring them back to public memory,” he explains. However, the challenges in achieving this goal are significant.
One major obstacle is the complex issue of music copyright ownership, which complicates efforts to digitize and upload these songs online. Many of Garg’s songs cannot be legally shared on streaming platforms without risking copyright infringement, as the rights to his music are scattered among a complicated network of producers, distributors, and record labels. This tangled web of ownership is not unique to Garg or India; it is a global issue faced by musicians and rights holders everywhere.
The music industry worldwide has seen numerous disputes over ownership and control of creative works. For example, internationally acclaimed artists like Taylor Swift have had to re-record their albums to regain ownership rights. Many musicians have started their own labels in an effort to secure more control over their music. In India, this issue is especially pronounced because contracts often favor producers and labels over the creators themselves, leaving artists with limited control and financial benefits.
Following Garg’s death, his fans encountered the practical implications of these ownership complexities firsthand. Many tried to find one of his most popular songs, “Mayabini Ratir Bukut,” on a leading music streaming platform, only to discover it was missing. Although a user briefly uploaded the track, it was soon taken down due to licensing conflicts. Manas Barua, a filmmaker and close friend of Garg, explained that hundreds of the singer’s songs have ownership that is either difficult to trace or actively contested, making it hard to preserve and share his legacy digitally.
The legal framework in India adds further layers to this challenge. The Copyright Act of 1957 governs music rights, distinguishing between separate copyrights for lyrics, musical composition, and sound recording. According to Delhi-based intellectual property lawyer Neel Mason, the “authors” of lyrics and composition—namely lyricists and composers—are the initial rights holders. However, the sound recordings are legally owned first by the producer, who is considered the “author” in this context. These rights holders can then transfer or license ownership to others, creating a complex chain that is difficult to navigate without meticulous documentation.
Zubeen Garg’s career illustrates these complexities. While some of his songs are owned by his own label, many from the 1990s and early 2000s belong to various producers and distributors, who in turn pay him royalties. Historically, copyright transfers often happened without financial transactions because producers relied on physical sales of cassettes and CDs, depending on distributors to reach audiences. Only with the advent of private radio stations and later online streaming platforms did the