iWorld
Hoopr and Universal Music India launch artist accelerator programme
MUMBAI: India’s independent music scene just got a serious power chord. Hoopr, the country’s leading music licensing platform, has teamed up with Universal Music India to roll out an industry-first Artist Accelerator Programme aimed at nurturing the next generation of homegrown musicians. The initiative promises more than applause. It offers money, mentorship and a clear path to getting heard and paid.
Designed for emerging independent artists, the programme tackles the usual roadblocks head on. Selected musicians will receive end-to-end support across publishing, distribution, sync and micro-sync opportunities, along with brand collaborations. In short, artists get to focus on making music while the machinery around them actually works.
A central part of the programme is the creation of a fresh catalogue of original tracks. These will be released on Hoopr’s YouTube channel Songfest and published on Hoopr Smash, its music-tech platform. Songfest has already built a reputation through collaborations with artists such as Monali Thakur, Shalmali Kholgade, Nikhil D’Souza and Ash King, alongside award-winning brand music projects.
There is also a nostalgic twist. Artists will be invited to reimagine iconic Universal Music India classics, with selected recreations set to drop on UMG India’s Revibe YouTube channel. Old favourites, new voices, fresh audiences.
Universal Music Group’s global distribution and marketing muscle, paired with Hoopr’s extensive independent artist community, creates a single launchpad for visibility and monetisation. For emerging musicians, that combination could be game changing.
Participants will be chosen through curated auditions open to Hoopr’s community of thousands of artists, with selections made by Universal Music India. Those selected will receive A and R guidance, studio access, mixing and mastering, music video production and sync opportunities facilitated by Hoopr.
Open to all genres and languages, the programme arrives at a moment when independent music is topping charts and brand partnerships are booming. It is a timely reminder that the future of Indian music is being built outside the mainstream, one bold track at a time.
Universal Music Group India and South Asia chief revenue officer Viral Jani, said the partnership reflects UMG’s artist-first approach and its commitment to discovering new talent from anywhere. Hoopr co-founder and CEO Gaurav Dagaonkar, called the initiative a long overdue breakthrough that brings fairness, scale and transparency to the indie music ecosystem.
For listeners, it means more new music. For artists, it could mean the difference between being heard and being forgotten.
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
