Mumbai, Jun 23 (IANS): Singer Sona Mohapatra has urged musiclovers to pay for artistes instead of looking for ‘free access to music.

"In India, we do not have the habit of understanding the fact that an artiste should be paid. We believe music should come for free. I want to talk about people in urban India. We willing to have a coffee for rupees 300. We love to invest in branded clothes, cars, we splurge our money on shopping but we want our music or free. Why? Whether it is music streaming, download, a music video, a webinar, or a digital concert -- we want all of it for free. Why so?"

She added: "if you really care about having more music in life, you should know how musicians get by, because it is going to be much much, much tougher in the post-COVID-19 days, please pay to the artiste. No artiste will ask for money, especially the folk singers, who depend on stage shows. Now they have difficulties. An artiste will never ask for money. They will always sing and perform because they are passionate."

"I would like to urge everyone that please value the artiste around you. Whenever you are watching a show, pay the artiste. Even if it is a small amount, but please pay, because you are paying for the lifetime that the artiste has put in to hone his craft. Money is respect in that sense. This is the reason why we do not have so many ticketed shows here in India and I think that should change in the coming days," Sona signed off.