As conversations around artist exploitation, opaque royalty systems, and creative burnout grow louder across India’s music industry, Shankar Mahadevan is stepping into the debate with a solution-driven voice. A composer who has consistently balanced commercial success with creative integrity, Mahadevan is now looking beyond individual grievances to address what he believes is the industry’s deepest fault line — ownership.In this candid conversation with ETimes, Shankar Mahadevan opens up about why creators losing rights is the most dangerous collapse point in the music ecosystem, how gatekeeping thrives when power is concentrated, and why music today risks becoming factory output instead of personal expression. He also responds to AR Rahman’s recent remarks on the slowdown of his Bollywood work and explains how Goongoonalo aims to rebuild trust, transparency, and dignity in music-making — without sacrificing commercial relevance.
Today, many Indian musicians speak openly about opaque royalties, delayed payments, and loss of ownership. Was Goongoonalo conceived as a response to these long-standing grievances, and which industry complaint needed the most urgent correction?
Absolutely. Goongoonalo was born from listening.For decades, artists have been saying the same things — we don’t know where our royalties go, payments come late, and our songs stop belonging to us.The most urgent correction was ownership. Because once an artist loses rights, everything else collapses — dignity, control, and the future.Goongoonalo became a joint petition by artists — a collective decision to stop complaining and start building. From Day One, every song here is co-owned.No hidden clauses.No rights transfer.No hierarchy.There’s also something quietly symbolic about our launch timing. We went live as we moved into Javed Akhtar saab’s birthday — a man who has spent his life fighting for creators’ rights. It felt like a blessing. Almost like the dawn of a new way of thinking — where creators no longer ask for space. They own it.We started with 100 original songs, and within months, we’re moving towards another 100, with many more already in the pipeline. This isn’t a campaign. It’s a growing archive of creator-owned music.
Gatekeeping remains one of the biggest frustrations — from labels to playlists to sync deals. By making artists co-owners, how does Goongoonalo dismantle gatekeeping without creating new power centres?
Gatekeeping exists when power sits with a few people.At Goongoonalo, every artist is a stakeholder.Not a client.Not a supplier.An owner.There is no single authority deciding visibility.No closed rooms.No favourites.When everyone owns the ecosystem, no one controls it.We didn’t shift power.We spread it.That’s how you end gatekeeping — not by replacing gatekeepers, but by removing gates altogether.
Many musicians say they are creating more content but feeling less fulfilled. Do you believe lack of ownership and audience connection is behind this burnout, and how does your model restore meaning?
Completely. Burnout happens when art becomes factory output.When you don’t own your music, you stop feeling like an artist and start feeling like a content machine.Goongoonalo restores meaning by giving artists:OwnershipTransparent earningsDirect audience connectionThrough features like Gatecrash, artists connect with listeners in real time — not months later through analytics.Music stops disappearing into dashboards.It becomes a conversation.When a song belongs to you, it carries your soul. That’s when creation heals again.
Recently, AR Rahman suggested a communal angle behind the slowdown in his Bollywood work. What are your thoughts on this?
Rahman sir belongs to the world. His music belongs to humanity.Art should be judged by depth, not demographics.Music unites.It never divides.At Goongoonalo, we stand firmly for inclusion, equality, and creative freedom.Talent has no religion.And genius needs space — not boundaries.
In an ecosystem where artists feel replaceable and pressured to chase algorithms rather than authenticity, how does Goongoonalo protect creative intent without isolating musicians from commercial realities?
Sherley Singh, CEO, Goongoonalo, answers: We are not governed by algorithms.We are guided by emotion.Goongoonalo is an ecosystem where artists create music they love — not what trends, not what charts, not what machines demand.At the same time, we’re practical. We help artists license their work across films, OTT platforms, brands, and digital content — without asking them to dilute their sound. That’s why production houses are already approaching us — because they know this is where authentic, uncompromised music lives.Creativity leads.Commerce follows.Not the other way around.
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