The Controversy Between a Sindh Singer and a Coke Studio Musician Over the Song "To Jhoom"

Posted on Jan 21, 2022

A new controversy has erupted over the original lyrics of the popular song 'To Jhoom' of 'Coke Studio Season 14' and a young singer from Sindh province has claimed that the lyrics of the song were stolen from her unreleased song.

The song 'To Jhoom' is sung by legendary singers Abida Parveen and Naseebo Lal and its poetry has been composed by Adnan Dhol while the composition is composed by Zulfiqar Khan alias Zulfi who is also the producer of 'Coke Studio Season 14'.

Six days after the release of 'To Jhoom', now Nirmala Maghani, a young singer from Umerkot district of Sindh, has claimed that half of Coke Studio's song style was stolen from her lyrics.

Nirmala Maghani, while talking to Soch, claimed that Zulfi and Coke Studios stole the lyrics of the song from the sample sent by them.

Nirmala Maghani also claimed in her tweets that she had sent her tune to the producer of Coke Studio in June 2021 but she was not answered and now 'To Jhoom' has been made in the style of her own tune.

#NirmalaMaghani #cokestudio14 #TuJhoom pic.twitter.com/4vzQTRAjJk
— Nirmala Maghani (@NirmalaMaghani) January 20, 2022

The Sindh singer claimed that she first contacted Coke Studio producer Zulfi on phone in June 2021 and sent him a sample of the lyrics on WhatsApp and the musician also saw her message but did not reply.

Singer Nirmala Maghani also shared a video of her sample lyrics as well as WhatsApp chat with Zulfi and claimed that half of the lyrics of 'To Jhoom' were stolen from her lyrics.

میرے گانے کی دھن جو میں @cokestudio کے پروڈیوسر زلفی کو بطور نمونہ جون 2021 میں بھیجی تھیں چوری کر کے کوک سٹوڈیو کے گانے "تو جھوم" میں استعمال کی جا ر ہی ہیں۔ مجھے کوئی پیسے نہیں صرف کریڈٹ دیا جائے۔ میری آواز بنیں 🙏#NirmalaMaghani
— Nirmala Maghani (@NirmalaMaghani) January 19, 2022

After Nirmala Maghani's claim, Zulfi while talking to 'Express Tribune' denied the allegations of the Sindh singer and claimed that all the songs of Coke Studio are based on original lyrics.

Zulfi acknowledged that singers and musicians from all over Pakistan had sent him samples of his work and expressed his desire to work with him, for which he was grateful to musicians across the country.

The Coke Studio producer claims that he has not copied the lyrics of any other musician or singer and that all of the Coke Studio songs are based on his own lyrics.

In his explanatory statement, she expressed hope that in future he would work with a talented singer like Nirmala Maghani.

In this regard, the Express Tribune reported that sources close to the matter told him that the matter would probably be settled through some transaction between the two parties, as Nirmala Maghani also hinted at legal action.

According to sources, various musicians and singers have been mobilized for reconciliation between the two parties and it is possible that the issue will be resolved through mutual understanding before any legal battle between the two parties.

On the other hand, Rohail Hayat, a former producer of Coke Studios, said in a tweet that Nirmala Maghani's model and 'To Jhoom' is the same kind of 'Raag' and usually the melody of 'Raag' is similar to each other or sometimes It also feels the same.

Similarly, other musicians have the same idea that sometimes the lyrics of the songs are similar to each other.

A lack of understanding about raag based folk tunes usually ends up in controversy with someone claiming their idea has been copied. Songs in the same raag always sound similar. Even the melodies can be near identical. Lyrics matter.#TuJhoom #cokestudio14 #AbidaParveen #xulfi
— Rohail Hyatt (@rohailhyatt) January 19, 2022

Even before the controversy erupted, some of Coke Studio's songs were accused of plagiarism and copyright last year, after which Coke Studio removed the songs from YouTube.

For the past few years, Coke Studios has been accused of not acquiring copyrights of old songs and stealing other people's tunes.

Coke Studios initially gained notoriety for allowing musicians and singers from different regions, languages and regions to perform together, including re-inventing old songs.