Beyond Distribution: SwaLay crafts a home for India's independent artistes

In recent years, India’s independent music scene has moved from the margins to the mainstream. With artists from small towns and metro cities alike breaking barriers in language, genre, and style, one thing has been missing: a reliable foundation to support that growth.
The country’s indie talent is not just producing music — they’re building movements. But in a world where algorithms decide visibility and third-party systems complicate rights and revenue, many creators are left navigating a fragmented experience.
Recognising this gap, Indian music tech start-up SwaLay Digital has quietly undergone a major transformation — expanding from a distribution service to a full-stack music ecosystem. The platform now serves as a unified space for creators to manage everything from releases and royalties to lyrics, visual design, rights management, and growth tools.
“We’re not just building features. We’re building an artist-first experience,” says Nikhil Jain, founder and CEO of SwaLay Digital. “Artists shouldn’t need five different tools just to do what they love. So, we asked — how do we simplify this, without stripping away control?”
At the heart of the new ecosystem is a dashboard built for clarity: artists can track performance, manage content, publish lyrics, and access smart insights in real time. The system also encourages collaboration — through its upcoming A2A (Artist to Artist) initiative — connecting creators to one another without the need for external intermediaries.
This community-driven approach is what makes SwaLay’s evolution feel different. Instead of merely adding features, the company is trying to reimagine what infrastructure for indie music could look like in India — one that honours regional diversity, simplifies monetisation, and helps artists remain independent without being alone.
From upcoming rappers in Northeast India to folk revivalists in Rajasthan, SwaLay now works with a growing roster of talent that reflects the raw, diverse soundscape of the country.
The platform’s pivot comes at a time when global players dominate music tech but often lack the cultural nuance needed to serve Indian artists deeply. SwaLay is betting that its ecosystem model — designed in India, for India — might just be what the next era of music creation needs.

Beyond Distribution: SwaLay crafts a home for India’s independent artists