New Delhi: Film music dominates consumption on Spotify, accounting for 70-90% of all listening in India, but artist-led, independent songs that are not part of films and created by singers in collaboration only with labels are growing at -fast tempos faster than movie songs, said the Swedish audio streaming service.
“We’d love to see a 50:50 balance between film and independent music, but that shift is happening gradually. When we came to India, we realized that it is a market of 1.3 billion people, but there are not enough artistes in the country because film music remains the barometer of success. This country has a huge musical heritage and the last few years have opened up opportunities for user-generated content,” said Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director, Spotify India and General Manager, SAMEA (South Asia, Middle East, Africa). in an interview In 2023, the most streamed song on Spotify in India, Maan Meri Jaan by King and Saurabh Lokahnde, with over 275 million plays, was not part of a film.
Trends vary across languages, Batra pointed out. In Punjabi, for example, non-film music accounts for 90% of all consumption, while in Hindi, Tamil or Telugu, where film music is big, the figure hovers close to 70-80% for film songs.
In the past year, names like AP Dhillon, King, Anuv Jain and Kanishk Seth have emerged as fan favorites in the non-film category, Spotify said.
The company has invested in Spotify for Artists, a program that regularly shares data with artists about their listener base and the consumption habits of the audience that follows their work. “They can know who’s listening to them or who else those people are listening to, which can influence how collaborations happen and give artists a chance to tap into other people’s audiences, in addition to giving them an idea of where the fans are, so they can host events,” Batra said. Currently, more than 28,000 artists from India use Spotify For Artists, which has doubled in the last year.
While film music will continue to top the charts in India, the emerging artistic ecosystem allows songs to find a connection with the singers instead of the actors they are filmed, Devraj Sanyal, chairman and CEO, India and South Asia and senior vice president, strategy, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Universal Music Group, said.
Another marker of the popularity of these names is the sold-out concerts when they perform in India and abroad, Sanyal pointed out. Universal deals entirely in non-film music and has no film catalog.
After marking five years of operations in India last month, the audio streaming platform’s 79th market in the world, Spotify said that while nearly 70% of listeners streamed international music at launch, more than 70% now turn to local music. In addition, music consumption from India has grown globally, with an 85% year-on-year increase in 2023 alone. Growth in consumption spans several local languages, with Malayalam the fastest growing music consumption globally, growing by 5,300 % followed by Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi and Hindi. In addition, Indian artists have found listeners in more countries around the world, with the most exported names being AR Rahman, Alka Yagnik, Anirudh Ravichander, AP Dhillon and Arijit Singh. In fact, Arijit Singh is the third most followed artist on Spotify globally.
Since Spotify launched five years ago, its playlists from India have also grown globally, led by Punjabi music. Hot Hits Punjabi saw the highest increase of 10,000% in the last one year, while Punjabi 101 grew by 1,400%, followed by Hot Hits Hindi and Bollywood Mush.
Batra acknowledged that music listeners in India have traditionally been unaccustomed to paying for what they consume, turning mostly to pirated sources. Apart from partnering with labels to curate local language playlists, the platform enables UPI payment options and sachet-style mini-price packs to attract customers.
“If India is to reach the top 5 or 10 market list in terms of music revenue, people need to become consistent in paying. We believe the mindset is changing because Indians are willing to pay and want the best,” said Batra.
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