Salman Ahmed says tribute to Junaid Jamshed blocked on youtube in several countries
Khwab, a tribute film to Junaid Jamshed produced by former bandmate Salman Ahmed, has been blocked on YouTube and is inaccessible in several countries, the Junoon front man confirmed on Wednesday. News of the short film’s blockage was first received when several fans tweeted to Salman that they were unable to watch the video on YouTube. The users included fans from several countries including India, UAE, US, and Canada.
In a statement to Geo.tv, the singer-guitarist said the reasons for the blockage were copyright issues with Universal Media Group India, to which the song ‘Khwab’ from the Junoon silver anniversary album Door is licensed, and VEVO, the American multinational video hosting service.
“The new Junoon silver anniversary album DOOR (which has both songs, ‘Door’ & ‘Khwab’) are licensed to Universal music. I reported the India / UK / UAE YouTube block to Universal. They responded by saying that ‘if Vevo agrees to upload it, it will take 4 weeks to upload video’. That essentially kills the song & video,” he said in a statement to Geo TV.
Salman confirmed that he is signed to Universal Media Group globally, but reserves that he reserves the rights to Junoon content in Pakistan. He said the album Door was on Vevo, but not ‘Khwab’, which led to the song becoming inaccessible in several countries.
However, the YouTube blockage did not stop the touching tribute film from going viral on the internet. Simultaneously sharing the short film on Facebook, Salman said the video has been watched millions of times already despite the YouTube blockage. “Khwab has touched millions across the planet in less than 3 days of release despite being blocked on YouTube,” he said in a tweet. Luckily, Salman was able to have the content unblocked in the United States. “Just got US YouTube to unblock ‘Khwab’. Where else s it blocked?” he tweeted as he tried to make the YouTube video accessible.
Vital Signs vocalist Junaid Jamshed was killed along with his wife in the Islamabad-bound PIA PK-661 flight that crashed last month. The famous singer-turned-preacher was returning from to the federal capital from a visit to Chitral when their plane crashed. All 47 people on the plane were killed in the fatal air accident.
Salman was close friends with Junaid and his bandmate in the initial Vital Signs lineup before he left to form his own band, Junoon. His tribute to his late friend can be watched on Junoon’s official Facebook page.
Instep Desk adds:
Salman Ahmed’s new album, Door, which features his newer take on ‘Khwab’ is available on iTunes music. The album contains 14 songs in total including the track, ‘Door Bohat Door’ whose video failed to make a mark despite the presence of Wasim Akram with wife Shaneria and model and actress Rabia Butt. Others track featured on the record include ‘Ghup Andhera’, ‘Chaltey Chaltey’, ‘Mein Aur Tum’ plus English tracks like ‘Open Your Eyes’, ‘Love Can You Take Me Back’ and an Outlandish remix of ‘No More’ which was originally sung by one Ali Azmat.
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