#NewsBytesInnovators: Meet the musician-engineer who built India's 1st music licensing
Gaurav Dagaonkar is an Indian musician and engineer who launched Hoopr in 2021 to fix music copyright problems and help artists get paid fairly.
With his IIM Ahmedabad background, he's built a platform that offers affordable, legal music licenses—now used by over 30,000 creators and 175 brands.
So far, Hoopr has paid out more than ₹4.5 crore in royalties.
Gaurav's journey from musician to tech entrepreneur
After a major brand used his music without permission in 2021, Gaurav decided it was time for change.
He combined his tech skills and industry experience to create a platform that uses AI to match songs with brand campaigns and ensures artists are paid on time.
By tackling India's huge annual licensing losses (₹8,000-10,000 crore), Hoopr is helping make the music scene fairer for everyone involved.