In April, Sony Music filed a copyright infringement case against online shopping platform Myntra in the Bombay High Court. The music label demanded R5 crore in damages, alleging that the portal had used various sound recordings from its library in an unauthorised manner. The case brought to light an issue that is plaguing the music world — in India’s rising creator economy, brands and influencers use music without proper licensing. The consequences? Legal risks for brands, possible takedowns for creators, and lost revenue for artistes and music labels.

As confusion and copyright issues reign in such a scenario, Gaurav Dagaonkar, along with Meghna Mittal, has founded Mumbai-based brand Hoopr that offers legal music access to brands. The strategy is simple. Hoopr boasts a catalogue of over 18,000 pre-cleared tracks that users can purchase in a pay-as-you-go model. “Almost 87 per cent of Indian branded content uses unlicensed music,” he starts. “We legalise access to a wide catalogue of Bollywood and local music, offering flexible options like subscriptions from Rs 249 per month or pay-per-track licensing via our portal. Everything is legally compliant and artistes are fairly compensated. For brands, this means elimination of legal repercussions.”