The Indian music industry could be losing upwards of Rs.350 crore in annual sync revenue due to the unlicensed commercial use of copyrighted music across social media platforms, according to a ContentLens press release yesterday.

The AI-powered intellectual property protection platform said the estimate is based on revenue-at-risk assessments conducted with leading music labels using its platform.

According to ContentLens, one large music label estimated that Rs.18 crore of its annual sync revenue was at risk from social media infringements alone.

The company extrapolated the figure across the Indian music industry based on the label’s market share and estimated the total exposure at more than Rs.350 crore, or approximately $40 million, annually.

Globally, ContentLens estimates that unlicensed social media use of copyrighted music could account for around $1 billion in lost sync revenue every year. The company said the estimate is based on a recorded music industry valued at approximately $31 billion, along with adjustments for market share and licensing awareness.

ContentLens said its patent-applied IP Detection Engine tracks the use of copyrighted music across social media and streaming platforms. The technology provides details including timestamps and financial profiles of entities using the music.

It can also identify slowed versions, remixes and unauthorised cover tracks that may go undetected through conventional audio-matching methods and manual searches.

The company said four leading Indian music labels and one international major have been using its platform over the past year to identify potential infringements and recover lost sync revenue.

ContentLens has now introduced a managed Enforcement Service, which takes copyright cases beyond detection and handles formal notices, negotiations and settlements on behalf of music labels. The company said two labels have already joined the service.

Rohan Sahu, Founder and CEO of ContentLens, said the platform detects 80-100 infringing videos every month across the top 100 songs provided by a label, with around 98 percent of the identified videos being clearly unlicensed.

‘Detection without enforcement is just a filing cabinet,’Sahu said, adding that the new service is aimed at bridging the gap between identifying copyright infringement and recovering revenue.

ContentLens said its broader platform also covers music IP protection, celebrity likeness and deepfake detection, content provenance and watermarking, and counterfeit detection.