Zubir said he was never driven by money. He believed that money was essential for his survival and to look after the family, and that the money he earned from giving music lessons and his compositions for the film world sufficed. He valued honesty and sincerity in his work and placed importance on purity and originality, whether in his music, lyrics or style of singing. He stopped composing songs for the film company when he was upset about the management's decision to cut production costs by borrowing existing music to be used for dubbing on to the background music of some films.