Mumbai: Damroo, an artist-first music streaming, distribution, and growth platform focused on independent and regional music, has raised a strategic investment of INR 5 crore from Hindustan Times.
The investment is aimed at strengthening Damroo’s efforts to support independent artists across India through audience growth, distribution, monetisation opportunities, and broader industry infrastructure.
According to the company, the partnership seeks to address some of the key challenges faced by independent musicians, including discoverability, limited audience reach, monetisation hurdles, and long-term career sustainability.
With the fresh capital infusion, Damroo plans to further strengthen its technology infrastructure, expand its artist network, improve regional music discovery capabilities, scale its content catalogue, and create new monetisation and fan engagement opportunities for creators across the country.
As part of the collaboration, Hindustan Times will leverage its broader media ecosystem and brand platforms, including Fever FM, along with its digital and entertainment properties, to help independent artists access wider audiences at scale.
Commenting on the investment, Karan Katyal, Strategic Partnerships & Investments, HT Media Group, said, “Damroo is addressing a meaningful gap in India’s independent music ecosystem through an artist-first approach focused on growth, discoverability, and monetization. Ram’s experience in the industry lends strong perspective to the business, and we are pleased to partner with the team on this journey.”
Damroo currently offers a range of artist-focused services including digital music distribution, publishing administration, YouTube growth management, marketing support, artist collaborations, A&R guidance, royalty collection support, and financial assistance for content production.
The platform also enables artists to become members of publishing societies such as Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS), allowing them to access long-term publishing royalties and sustainable revenue opportunities.
Speaking about the development, Ram Mishra, Founder of Damroo, said, “India is witnessing an incredible rise in independent and regional music talent, but many artists still struggle with visibility, monetization, and long-term career support.”
“With this partnership with Hindustan Times, we are building a technology-driven ecosystem that will help artists access audience reach, industry infrastructure, and growth opportunities at scale. Our vision is to ensure that talented artists across India can pursue music fearlessly and build meaningful livelihoods through their art,” Ram Mishra added.
Ram Mishra is also a member of the advisory committee of IPRS and brings over two decades of experience working with music labels and artist ecosystems in India.
