Guest Contribution by Gaurav Dagaonkar
India’s digital ecosystem is undergoing a structural shift in how content is consumed, distributed, and monetised. In FY2025, digital advertising is estimated to account for 44–46% of total media spend, overtaking television to become the country’s single largest medium. This transformation is being driven by short-form video, commerce-led marketing, and increasingly sophisticated targeting, with mobile video at the centre.
What often goes understated in this transition is the role of music. As video has scaled, music has quietly become one of the most reused, replicated, and commercially valuable inputs in India’s digital economy. It is no longer an accessory layered onto content; it is embedded into how audiences discover, engage with, and emotionally respond to digital experiences.
According to the R K SWAMY Centre for Study of Indian Markets (AIM), 93% of Indian viewers now consume video on smartphones, spending an average of 2.17 hours per day. Usage skews even higher among younger audiences. Platforms such as YouTube and YouTube Shorts, Instagram, OTT services, and WhatsApp-distributed videos have come to define mainstream viewing behaviour. In this environment, music travels at the same speed as content, appearing across brand campaigns, creator videos, apps, and performance marketing assets at unprecedented volume.
Yet while demand for music has accelerated, access to music that is both legally compliant and commercially viable has not kept pace. For creators, brands, and advertisers operating at digital speed, the gap between demand and rights-ready supply has become one of the most persistent structural challenges in India’s content economy.
Why Traditional Licensing Broke Down
Despite the exponential growth in content creation, much of India’s digital ecosystem continues to function in a state of widespread non-compliance. An estimated 87% of digital content still uses unlicensed music, not out of intent, but because traditional licensing frameworks were built for film and television cycles, not for high-volume, always-on digital publishing.
The consequences are significant. The industry is estimated to forfeit nearly ₹3,600 crore in revenue annually due to unlicensed usage. This is less a behavioural failure than a systemic one. Licensing models did not evolve alongside the way content is now produced, distributed, and monetised.
Micro-sync licensing emerged in response to this mismatch. Designed specifically for digital-first environments, it enables rights-cleared music usage across short-form video, influencer collaborations, SME-led digital advertising, websites, apps, and performance marketing channels. With pricing starting as low as ₹500 per track, micro-sync removes cost, complexity, and turnaround time as barriers. In doing so, it aligns legal music usage with the velocity and scale of modern content creation.
A New Revenue Layer for Artists
For Indian artists, particularly independent musicians, micro-sync licensing represents a meaningful shift in how music earns. It introduces a repeatable revenue stream in an ecosystem where streaming income remains volume-dependent and live performance revenues are inherently unpredictable. By monetising everyday digital usage, micro-sync moves music closer to where attention actually resides.
Platform-level observations across the industry indicate that individual tracks are now being licensed hundreds of times, and in some cases over a thousand times, across branded content, creator-led videos, and digital advertising. Depending on catalogue fit and frequency of usage, this can translate into ₹50,000–₹2,00,000 in annual income per track through recurring placements, alongside a 10–20% uplift in streaming discovery and audience growth.
The structural implication is just as important as the financial one. Music no longer earns only at the moment of release. Each licensed use extends its commercial life, turning songs from one-time products into durable digital assets. Micro-sync also reduces reliance on opaque intermediaries and delayed royalty systems, offering artists greater visibility and predictability over how their work monetises.
Growing Adoption Across Brands and Creators
Momentum toward licensed music is accelerating. Digital media already contributes over one-third of India’s total Media and Entertainment revenue, firmly establishing it as the country’s largest entertainment segment. As brands compete for attention in increasingly crowded feeds, music has emerged as one of the most effective tools to build recall and emotional connection.
Brands that integrate well-matched, recognisable music into their content are seeing 25–35% higher engagement, driven by music’s ability to enhance storytelling and memorability. What is notable is the breadth of adoption. Small businesses, D2C brands, and regional creators are increasingly using licensed music not just for compliance, but as a strategic lever for growth.
Across categories, usage is becoming more intentional. Fitness platforms are deploying high-energy tracks to drive motivation and session intensity, while wellness brands curate calmer soundscapes to improve user experience and retention. Music is no longer an afterthought in content planning. It is becoming central to how brands express identity and sustain engagement.
Micro-Sync as Digital Infrastructure
India’s creator economy is projected to grow from roughly ₹125 billion today to nearly ₹500 billion by 2030. At that scale, the question is no longer whether music will be used extensively in digital content, but whether the systems supporting that usage are built for speed, fairness, and longevity.
As effectiveness replaces reach as the dominant metric, music will play a larger role in shaping engagement, recall, and platform differentiation. This shift demands licensing models that can move at the pace of content creation while remaining transparent and artist-aligned.
Micro-sync licensing is increasingly positioned to support this next phase. By enabling rights-cleared usage at volume, it allows music to circulate seamlessly across formats and platforms, while ensuring artists participate meaningfully in the value their work generates. In doing so, micro-sync is evolving from a compliance solution into a core layer of India’s digital music economy, one designed for scale, sustainability, and long-term growth.
The views expressed are the author’s own. Gaurav Dagaonkar is the CEO of Hoopr.
