Changing track: Meesho, ITC and others tune into music licensing to avoid IP pitfalls

Music licensing

Not so long ago, Sony Music sued Myntra for unauthorised use of its songs, a move that proved a turning point for the industry with more and more companies now opting for music licences over lawsuits.

Today 150 brands, including Meesho, ITC, Rajasthan Royals, UltraTech Cement and Himalaya, are buying music licences via licensing platforms such as Hoopr.

Hoopr co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Gaurav Dagaonkar expects these 150 paying clients to grow to 1,500 by the end of this fiscal.

How big is the issue of unlawful use of music?

"There are close to 80,000 brands which are creating videos on Instagram today and out of these, about six odd thousand brands are violating copyright norms on a weekly basis or at least a fortnightly basis, some even on a daily basis," Dagaonkar said.

There are close to 30,000-32,000 branded content Instagram reels being made a day in India. "Typically one in a thousand reels or one in 2,000 reels is a branded content reel. India is making about 47 million reels a day as a country. That translates to close to 12 million reels, which are branded content pieces on a yearly basis. If people pay Rs 1,000 in music license that's Rs 1,200 crore rupees that the music industry can earn. Currently, the industry is losing out on this money," he said.

What is fuelling the music licence boom?

Companies now have more options to purchase music licences and that, too, is adding to the numbers.

"The reason why we are so confident about jumping from 150 to 1,500 is because of the deals with Yash Raj Films (YRF), 21 other labels and even the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), which has enabled us to get more labels on the platform,” he said.

Hoopr will be able to sell licences or micro licenses for many popular and trending songs by famous artistes, which brands need," the CEO said.

The tracks under the new partnerships are part of Hoopr Smash, an automated, self-serve music licensing marketplace with around 19,000 popular tracks. Dagaonkar launched the platform to expand the song portfolio, streamline the process of discovering and licensing Bollywood and regional music for brands, agencies, and content creators.

Until FY25, the only product that Hooper was selling was a subscription to its native catalogue of about 5,000 unique independent tracks, owned by the company.

While the songs are of good quality and in multiple languages, Dagaonkar found that companies constantly needed  Bollywood and trending songs.

"Now, we are retailing licences to third-party tracks and will share revenues with them," he said.

Dagaonkar expects to make somewhere in the range of Rs 10-15 crore for the partner labels in FY26.

Dagaonkar anticipates stronger demand for music rights, with more brands opting to purchase licences through Hoopr Smash, a platform that facilitates third-party track licensing. So far, the company has sold between 75,000 and 1 lakh licenses for songs in its catalogue.

"We have also seen a 4.5 to 5 times increase year on year in the number of licences sold," he said.

How does music licensing work?

A brand or an influencer using a track in a branded content, a sponsored or some kind of a commercial reel or video can purchase music licence via platforms like Hoopr, Daganokar. There are licenses for long format as well as micro licences.

"A Rs 999 license allows brands/creators to use the track only in one organic short format video for lifetime. Digital micro sync license allows the usage of the track in one organic short form video but the video can be uploaded on up to three different platforms," he said.

But the same Rs 999 licence cannot be used for TV commercials. "If brands do that, they will be in violation. For long format usage, we have asked the brands to request a quote," he said.

Hooper offers subscriptions that start at Rs 249 a month.

Who is buying the music licences?

In addition to brands like Plum Goodness and ITC,  vloggers and social media content creators are buying these licences.

Influencers on Hoopr Smash are licensing music for their branded content, Dagaonkar said.

Vloggers like Flying Beast, Satguru, even Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadanavis have purchased music licences. "We currently have 3,20,000 YouTubers who are on the platform," he said.

How much are brands paying?

Brands spend Rs 5–10 lakh for every instance when they want to license music from labels. Brands can license music for social media and short form content starting at just Rs 599, going up to Rs 20,000 for a single use depending upon the popularity of the track on platforms like Hoopr.

Will Hoopr expand the label and artiste portfolio?

Dagaonkar expects to add a few more labels to its music portfolio and close to 100-150 independent artistes.

"We have close to 550 independent artists right now who have put their music on the platform. This year we will add not more than three-four large labels, not more than say 15-30 regional or smaller labels and not more than 100-150 independent artistes," he said.