The Birth of Goongoonalo : India’s First Artist-Owned Music Ecosystem

Mumbai : In A Landmark Moment for the Indian Music Industry, Over 35 of the Country’s Most Celebrated Musical Artists have Unveiled a Visionary New Platform : Goongoonalo- India’s first Artist-Led, Artist-Owned Cultural Ecosystem. Founded by Legendary Poet Javed Akhtar, Grammy-winning composer Shankar Mahadevan, and technologist Sridhar Ranganathan, and helmed by CEO Sherley Singh, the platform marks a paradigm shift in how music is created, shared, and experienced.

Goongoonalo is designed to challenge the algorithm-driven music landscape by offering a human-centric, soulful alternative. The platform promises original content, unreleased classics, lyrical intimacy, and direct fan engagement.

As Javed Akhtar put it, “May 5, 2025, will be remembered as a historic day. Goongoonalo gives artists the freedom to create without the constraints of producers or music companies. It’s the first of its kind globally, where musicians, lyricists, and singers are shareholders. Artists will have complete creative freedom, and no committee will oversee their work. Members will also introduce new talents, giving exposure to emerging singers, lyricists, and composers. This is where there will be complete unity in complete diversity.”

This Vision is Echoed By Co-Founder Shankar Mahadevan :

“Goongoonalo is a platform created by artists for artists. It’s a stage to write the next chapter of music. Today is a significant and historic day for all artists. Through this platform, the dreams of many artists will come true.”

Sonu Nigam Shared :

“When I came to Mumbai in the ’90s, we always wanted to do something that no one else was doing. Now, that dream will become a reality with Goongoonalo, which will become very important in the history of music.”

Prasoon Joshi added:

“Many times, we’ve had our mic and pens but by the end of the writing process, we were left wondering what it was we initially wanted to say. We’ve done a lot of commission work—now it’s time to commission our work to ourselves and say exactly what we had set out to express. Goongoonalo provides the freedom to think and create without any constraints.”

Together, a galaxy of artists including Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Hariharan, Sulaiman Merchant, Salim Merchant, Shekhar Ravjiani, Vishal Dadlani, Amit Trivedi, Irshad Kamil, Papon, Sameer Anjaan, Raju Singh, Kaushiki Chakraborty, Vijayaprakash Ramasesha, Srinivasan Doraiswamy, Loy Mendonsa, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Anand Shrivastava, Milind Shrivastava, Aruna Sairam, Anupam Roy, Harshdeep Kaur, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Bickram Ghosh, Akriti Kakkar, Shweta Mohan, Anusha Mani, Manan Shah, Akshay Hariharan, Rachel Singh, Siddharth Mahadevan, Soumil Shringarpure, and Joshua Singh are forging a new, inclusive path for Indian music-a future shaped by those who create it.