Hook CEO Gaurav Sharma on how the social music remix app will ‘give artists agency’ | Digital

Hook, the AI social music app that enables fans to create authorised remixes, is now available on iOS.

It follows the recent content deal with Downtown Music, which paves the way for millions of licensed recordings from Downtown’s catalogue to be added to Hook’s library. It also unlocks a new revenue stream for Downtown’s global client base by providing compensation for user-generated (UGC) remixes of their songs.

Hook aims to help many more artists and rights-holders maximise the value of songs used on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube. Hook founder and CEO Gaurav Sharma spoke to Music Week earlier this year as the buzz was building about the app. 

Sharma previously served as chief operating officer for JioSaavn, India’s largest music streaming platform. 

Hook recently secured additional funding from Imaginary Ventures, along with a group of music and social media industry investors and advisors. The seed round was led by Point72 Ventures and Edgar Bronfman Jr’s Waverley Capital.

Here, Gaurav Sharma shares his vision for Hook…

Hook recently extended its seed round – how will this investment help to develop the service and roll it out globally?

“Natalie Massenet, Nick Brown and the entire team at Imaginary Ventures have a proven track record of helping early-stage consumer businesses win in their respective markets. With our expanded seed round, our investors bring true expertise across music and entertainment, consumer technology, finance and go-to-market. We’re so grateful to have a roster of investors who give us superpowers across our entire ecosystem.”

We are giving a way for users to remix their favourite songs while enabling artists and labels to get paid

Gaurav Sharma

You have backing from key music industry figures and artists, how is that calibre of investor helping Hook build momentum as a music tool?

“Hook is an artist-first, rights-owners-first company founded on the principle that these stakeholders must be able to capture full value from the ever-evolving landscape of music consumption. Many people on our team have worked at the intersection of the music industry & technology for over 10 years. Having someone like Edgar Bronfman Jr at Waverley – who has a long history in the music business – as a key investor has been invaluable to us as we meet with key stakeholders. Our investors supporting our vision gives us credibility. Being able to strategise and learn from such an influential group of thinkers gives us quality and clarity of thought.”

How does the platform increase engagement with artists, can it help to connect fans more closely with their favourite songs and artists?

“Our platform gives artists agency in how their fans interact with or express themselves with their music. Fans are able to experience their favourite artist’s music in new ways while getting closer to the artists themselves.”

Music consumption on social media/short form video is a growing area – but how can you help artists and rights-holders and artists to effectively monetise UGC content?

“At Hook we are solving that problem by giving a way for users to remix their favourite songs while enabling artists and labels to get paid. We’re borrowing from our team’s experience building music streaming platforms back in 2009. There was a time when digital music consumption was synonymous with piracy and revenue loss. Our platform is a bridge between shifting consumption trends and the music industry in the same way streaming platforms were for the digital music shift in the 2000s.”

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