Film studios now want to own their music—and step up the IP game

Film production houses that once sold music rights to labels are now rethinking the strategy. Instead of a one-time upfront fee, studios see music as an intellectual property (IP) asset that can generate long-term revenue.

When production houses own their own music, they capture both upfront licensing fees and long-term revenues from streaming, YouTube, sync, and performance rights, said Gaurav Dagaonkar, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Hoopr, a music licensing platform.

“With 70–80% of India’s music revenue driven by film soundtracks, this creates a major monetization opportunity. Moreover, ownership enables better cross-promotion and brand tie-ups, and better long-tail asset value,” Dagaonkar said, adding that distribution and global partners play a vital role for new labels.

With Maddock Films launching its music label Mad For Mussic, entertainment industry experts say film studios are stepping up their IP game.

Last month, Universal Music India (UMI), a division of Universal Music Group (UMG), entered into a partnership with Maddock Films. The partnership will see UMI become Mad For Mussic’s global strategic partner for future film soundtracks and other businesses and product offerings, the two companies said in a statement.

In April 2023, Believe, a global digital music company, announced a music distribution deal with Panorama Music, the Indian music company behind Bollywood films such as Omkara, Pyaar Ka Punchnama franchise, Raid and Drishyam.

With the exception of Yash Raj Films, Bollywood film production houses have historically sold their music rights.

Playing it right

Entertainment industry experts emphasize that the move from audio cassettes and CDs to digital revenue streams has made the music business far easier for companies, including film studios, to navigate.

That said, challenges remain. Managing a music label demands not only marketing but also artists and repertoire (A&R) catalogue, and rights management—all of which most production companies lack in-house.

The Indian music market is also challenging: despite high consumption, only 7–8 million users pay for subscriptions, which is among the lowest monetization penetration in the world. YouTube leads the music streaming sector, and success is driven by catalogue depth and distribution networks. Without expertise or the right partners, studios risk revenue leakage, weak royalty collections, and lost opportunities in brand or global licensing.

“There might be a short-term dip in monetization because you could get ₹10-20 crore upfront, but it makes sense to retain the IP and claim more ownership. That said, you need to have a distribution partner that can negotiate better revenue rates with streaming platforms since they are already doing so much business with them,” film producer Shariq Patel said.

The move could be beneficial if the studio has a large library and a consistent stream of releases and if, like in the case of Maddock’s deal with Universal Music, it can find a partner simply for distribution.

According to the Ficci EY media and entertainment report 2025, digital licensing garnered 62% of music segment revenues spanning music streaming platforms, YouTube, social media platforms and from telecom operators. Other licensing revenues, which include performance and publishing rights, sync, physical sales, were largely flat at 24% of total revenues in 2024.

The Indian music segment declined by 2% to reach ₹5,300 crore in 2024. Industry estimates project it to grow to ₹7,800 crore by the end of 2026.