India’s Music-Tech Potential: Why Licensing Is the Next Big Investment

India's music industry is swiftly going digital, fueled by streaming, mobile growth, and a boom in content creators. With over 80 million creators producing massive monthly content, music has become vital for storytelling and audience engagement. However, the licensing market hasn't kept pace. Outdated systems, complex rights, and a lack of awareness about available solutions have led to widespread unauthorized music use, costing the industry significant revenue.

This market gap offers prime opportunities for micro-licensing, AI technology, artist rights management, and music licensing platforms. As demand for legal, high-quality music soars, building smart, scalable licensing infrastructure can create lasting value for creators, rights holders, and investors alike, positioning music-tech as one of India's most promising emerging sectors.

The Evolving Indian Music Landscape

India's music listening has turned decisively digital. Total revenue of the industry in 2024 was Rs 2,700 crore, with more than 89% coming from digital sources. This signifies a monumental shift in how music is consumed, away from physical media and towards online streaming and digital content. Powering this boom is the runaway growth of the creator economy. India now has over 200 million active content creators. Every month, some 80,000 brands and 550,000 creators put out more than a million pieces of branded content. Whether it is a product demo, reel, vlog, or podcast — music has become the backbone in establishing tone, identity, and emotional connection. This upliftment is supported by serious economics. The India Creator Economy was worth US$ 1,457.4 million in 2025 and will expand at a whopping CAGR of 22.2% to reach US$ 5,930.5 million by 2032. At the same time, regional music is thriving, with local hits gaining national popularity,while global music is more accessible than ever. This convergence has created a rich, multi-genre audio ecosystem that fuels content within and across geographies and formats. But the challenge and opportunity lies immediately within the ever-growing need to legally, efficiently, and ethically embed this music into commercial content.

The Current Licensing Predicament

India's burgeoning digital content landscape is expanding at an unprecedented rate, yet the underlying music licensing infrastructure remains remarkably slow and ill-equipped for contemporary demands. This significant disconnect stems from several critical issues: profound fragmentation in rights ownership, convoluted and unclear licensing processes, and archaic pricing models that fail to reflect today's market realities. These systemic hurdles severely impede creators' ability to lawfully, quickly, and economically access the music they need. Consequently, a vast majority of creators, often unaware of intricate intellectual property regulations, resort to extensive utilization of unauthorized music. This widespread non-compliance means that most of the over one million pieces of branded content generated monthly in India incorporate unlicensed music. The financial repercussions are staggering, with unauthorized music usage costing India an estimated Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 crore annually in unrecovered or unpaid royalties owed to rightful creators and rights holders. Beyond the financial impact, this inefficient system stifles creative innovation, deprives artists and composers of fair compensation for their work, and, critically, exposes both content creators and brands to substantial legal liabilities. Therefore, there is an urgent and escalating need to fundamentally transform the music licensing process, making it significantly simpler, faster, and more broadly accessible for every party involved in India's dynamic digital content industry.

Micro-licensing: The New Approach

Micro-licensing is profoundly transforming music licensing to align with the digital economy's rapid pace. Unlike traditional sync licenses for TV or film, which involve broad rights, high costs, and lengthy negotiations, micro-licensing offers precise usage rights, shorter terms, and significantly lower fees (typically Rs 3,000-Rs 3,500 per track). This model dramatically improves accessibility, empowering individual creators and SMEs to legally use quality music,especially those previously forced into legal gray areas due to prohibitive traditional costs. By simplifying processes and lowering entry barriers, micro-licensing addresses core challenges like rights fragmentation and excessive fees. Crucially, it unlocks new, transparent revenue streams for independent and emerging artists, ensuring fair monetization of their work. This innovation not only professionalizes music licensing and monetization but also propels the growth of India's dynamic digital content economy.

The Investor's Advantage: Why Now?

India's recorded music industry, currently at an estimated Rs 3,200 crore, only reflects formal activity. Its true potential, however, lies in converting the vast unlicensed market into a compliant, revenue-generating ecosystem. A robust licensing infrastructure is crucial for this transformation.

Licensed music demonstrably boosts performance: marketing and creation professionals consistently report a 25-35% increase in engagement when utilizing emotionally compelling, licensed tracks. As digital storytelling becomes increasingly competitive, music is no longer an afterthought but a vital differentiator.

Moreover, the market is rapidly shifting towards compliance. Growing copyright awareness and an increase in lawsuits are compelling artists and brands to seek legal alternatives. Investing in music-licensing platforms fosters IP-responsible content creation for the masses, unlocking monetization from a significantly underserved market.

The momentum has already begun. The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) distributed over Rs 600 crore in royalties in FY 2024-25, their largest payment ever, driven by digital agreements and wider acceptance of licensing. Stakeholders, including government and industry bodies, are increasingly recognizing the need for a cohesive music licensing space in India to ensure fair artist compensation. The foundation is laid; it's time to build.