Thai rock star Seksan "Sek Loso" Sukpimai has joined the Mor Lam bandwagon, slamming GMM Grammy Group for the huge fee it charges performers for live performances of its copyrighted songs and music.
A group of folk music performers in the North and Northeast have said they will boycott songs owned by Thailand's largest media conglomerate entertainment company unless the fees are lowered, because they just cannot afford them.
Sek Loso on Tuesday posted a message on his Facebook page, criticising Grammy's new 250,000 baht annual fee for use of a maximum of 20 songs in each performance, introduced on Sept 1.
"This problem must be solved. This is from the small voices of my fans and supporters: 'Why the @#$% do you [Grammy] want to arrest the fans who support you? You should go arrest those who sell pirated goods, you %$#$@!!!" wrote the 39-year-old rock artist who has returned to Grammy after the two sides went separate ways following a drug-taking scandal in 2011.
A Facebook user under the pseudonym "Auy Squier Loso" posted a message on Sek Loso's page, asking the singer and guitarist whether his songs are owned by Grammy.
"Grammy and I both own the copyright to my music. If anyone wants to arrest you for performing my songs, just tell me. Play my songs, nobody dares to make that arrest," Sek Loso wrote back.
On Monday, a group of Mor Lam performers announced that they cannot afford the annual copyright fee of 250,000 baht. They called on the entertainment giant to cut the fee by half, or else they will stop using Grammy songs in their live performances, would not pay the fee and would not hire Grammy artists to appear on their shows.
The following day Grammy insisted that their new policy was legitimate, and said artists who use their songs could talk with them about the charges if they thought they were excessive.
"Hak (If)", a music video by Sek Loso, was uploaded to YouTube by seklosoofficial on Aug 31, 2013.