After Years Of Takedowns, MadStarBase's Edits Receive Saregama's Backing

For a decade now, MadStarBase have been the flagbearers of the desi wave movement, reinterpreting, flipping and sampling Bollywood soundstracks for dancefloor edits as a way to "show love and give flowers to the culture that raised us, and not run away from it". Consequently, the New Delhi duo has also been heavily subjected to copyright notices and takedowns of their work, like most artists who similarly reimagine their country's pop culture and find their ability for it limited through the legal hurdles over the same decade.

In a landmark agreement, India's oldest label Saregama gives recognition to MadStarBase's work and popularity, by issuing official remixes instead of copyright strikes. The label has partnered with Neal Sekhri and Anant Ahuja's production project to release four remixes across June, beginning with a rework of RD Burman's 'Dum Maaro Dum', continuing with their bass-heavy take on the 1990s anthem 'Saat Samundar', with further two coming out on June 17 and 24.

"The edits blew up with huge streams on YouTube and Spotify, but that success came with copyright takedowns," the duo told us in an earlier occassion when Univeral Music India had given access to its back catalogue to select musicians after an extended time of curbing similar creative efforts. "At first, major labels kept issuing takedowns, but eventually the viral success was so big that they had to tap in, monetize the tracks, and sign them for official release."

With the remixes coming out by Saregama, the band explains further: “It rarely happens that illegal bootlegs get signed by a major label. “Ours did. What started as throwaway edits to include in just our sets became recognised as valuable IP, legitimised by the labels themselves.”

Listen to the flips of 'Dum Maaro Dum' and 'Saat Samundar' below and head to MadStarBase's artist profile for more.