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BEAT Music Fund, the dance music investment company from Armada Music Group, acquired the rights to “a large portion” of masters from DJ, producer and Turbo Recordings founder Tiga. The deal includes Tiga’s “Sunglasses at Night,” “Bugatti,” “You Gonna Want Me,” “Let’s Go Dancing” and “HAL” featuring Kölsch. BEAT previously signed catalog deals with Kevin Saunderson, Markus Schulz, Robbie Rivera, Jax Jones, Amba Shepherd, VIVa MUSiC, Sola Records, King Street Sounds, Chocolate Puma and others.
Hook, the AI-powered platform that allows users to legally remix songs by top artists while earning income from those remixes, closed an additional $3 million in funding, bringing the startup’s total funding to $6 million. This round includes new investments from Khosla Ventures, Kygo‘s Palm Tree Crew, and The Raine Group. Continued support came from existing investors including Imaginary Ventures, Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Ventures, KSHMR and Edgar Bronfman, Jr.‘s Waverley Capital. The investment will help accelerate Hook’s marketing efforts and hiring, with a focus on user acquisition.

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Japanese record label Teichiku Entertainment signed a distribution partnership with Believe for Japan and the rest of the world. Through the deal, the companies aim to expand Teichiku’s digital footprint by leveraging Believe’s global DSP network, technology and digital-first expertise to bring Japanese enka, kayōkyoku and pop music to a wider audience globally.

Indian record label and music publisher Times Music acquired Indian regional record labels Symphony Recording Co. and ARC Musicq. These are Times Music’s first acquisitions since Primary Wave Music invested in the company to speed up its growth worldwide. Symphony, described in a press release as “the undisputed leader of Tamil spiritual and devotional music,” has a catalog of more than 350 audio and 100 video albums and boasts YouTube views of nearly 2 billion, with revenue on the platform doubling in the past four years, according to the release. ARC Musicq, which has been distributed by Times Music since 2017, is a label specializing in Indian folk music and film soundtracks within the Kannada music market. ARC also boasts more than 2 billion views on YouTube, with revenue quadrupling in the last three years, according to the release.

Independent U.S.-based K-pop label hello82 struck a partnership with One Hundred Label, the Korean entertainment company behind THE BOYZ. Under the deal, hello82 is serving as the exclusive physical distributor for the group’s album Unexpected, which was released on March 17. To support the release, hello82 is erecting immersive fan experiences at its brick and mortar fan spaces in Los Angeles and Atlanta, and at pop-up shops in major markets including New York, Chicago and San Diego throughout March. Hello82 previously signed similar deals with KQ Entertainment (ATEEZ, hikers) and FNC Entertainment (P1Harmony).

Ninja Tune struck a licensing partnership with Reactional Music, the music personalization platform allowing real-time interactive music integration in gaming, automotive and digital environments. With the deal, Ninja Tune’s labels and publishing division, Just Isn’t Music, have licensed the rights to tracks from its catalog for use in Reactional’s music personalization engine and music delivery platform. Ninja Tune’s labels include Brainfeeder, Counter Records, Technicolor, Big Dada and Foreign Family Collective, which have collectively released music by Thundercat, Bonobo, Little Dragon, Run the Jewels, ODESZA, Peggy Gou and others. Reactional’s platform is now live on Unity and Unreal Engine. It is being used by developers and creators in Europe, the United States, China and Southeast Asia.

ADA, the independent music distribution and artist services arm of Warner Music Group (WMG), acquired music tech startup RSDL.io, which provides automated accounting and a simplified view of multiple revenue streams for artists and labels. Founded by tech executives Mike Holmes, Jim Sella and Bill Sella and music industry players Alex Brahl (S7 Management) and songwriter-producer Shep Goodman, RSDL.io lets users facilitate payments and manage splits and recoupments and “allows for multi-level artist and contributor payout functionality and insights,” according to a press release.

EMPIRE struck a multi-year partnership with sound separation and lyric transcription technology company AudioShake under which the San Francisco-based label will use AudioShake’s stem and lyric separation technologies to create stems and lyrics for its catalog. EMPIRE will use AudioShake’s AI to produce stems for use in synch licensing, immersive formats and new music licensing models.

Musical AI, the AI rights management platform for music and audio, is partnering with Nashville-based artist-model platform and VST plugin First Rule to build fully-licensed AI agents and models designed to support music makers. Through the deal, Musical AI will provide licensed training data to First Rule, which will use the data to train musical agents and models aimed at assisting artists and producers. Musical AI will also provide attribution technology and payment processing “to ensure First Rule can prioritize rightsholder consent, credit, and compensation,” according to a press release. Using this data, First Rule will train its proprietary models to ensure they are able to produce high-quality results. This will allow artists and producers to train their own “Musical Essence or M.E Models on their distinctive style and approach,” then license those models to others to use in First Rule’s Co-Writer, a generative AI-powered VST plugin the company is currently building that will work in any digital audio workstation.

Sony Music Entertainment India and Tiger Baby — the Indian production company formed by filmmakers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti — formed Tiger Baby Records, a joint-venture music label dedicated to fostering emerging talent. For one of its first projects, the new label has partnered with jewelry brand Tanishq for a wedding song composed by Abhishek-Ananya and performed by Poorvi Koutish. It also recently released the soundtrack for Superboys of Malegaon, a film based on the life of filmmaker Nasir Shaikh, that was composed by Sachin-Jigar and written by Javed Akhtar. Tiger Baby Records will additionally release original music curated by Ankur Tewari that will spotlight emerging artists and launch a “City Sessions” initiative with Mumbai’s Island City Studios in which singer-songwriters will be offered the opportunity to refine their craft, collaborate with established artists and more.

Universal Music Group (UMG) and HEAT — a new marketplace connecting animators, game developers and 3D artists with a trove of motion data and music — formed a collaborative initiative involving Lil Wayne and CG5 that will make licensed tracks from both artists available to game developers for the first time. Beginning May 1, Lil’ Wayne tracks “Uproar” and “GO DJ” and CG5 tracks “I See A Dreamer,” “Sleep Well,” “Let Me In” and “Dancin’” will be available through the HEAT platform, allowing game creators to integrate those tracks into their projects.

Secretly Distribution struck a global distribution deal with Invada Records, a U.K.-based independent label co-owned by musician, producer and composer Geoff Barrow (Portishead, BEAK >) and his longtime business partner Redg Weeks. Invada has released music by artists including DROKK, The KVB, Jeremy Gara (Arcade Fire), BEAK >, Divide And Dissolve, Anika, Billy Nomates, Gazelle Twin, Colin Stetson, Sleafords Mods, TVAM, Benefits and Julian Cope. It has additionally released scores for films, TV shows and video games including Stranger Things, Drive, Ex Machina, Solaris, Red Dead Redemption 2, Hannibal, Dark, Annihilation and Black Mirror.

Sweet Relief Musicians Fund and Sweetwater launched The Hearing Health Fund at Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which will provide support for the growing number of music professionals who face hearing-related challenges, including hearing loss and tinnitus. According to research cited in a press release, seven in 10 music venue staff are exposed to noise levels above the daily recommended limit, while only 15% reported using hearing protection on a regular basis. Through the fund, professionals can receive a free, three-part hearing screening with a certified audiologist and free Etymotic Research ER-20XS High Fidelity Earplugs. Music pros can navigate here to apply for the Hearing Health Fund.

Music technology company Audoo partnered with German performing rights society GEMA on GEMA’s music impact study, which aimed to quantify the commercial value of background music in gastronomy and retail spaces. The study used Audoo’s audio meters — or music recognition hardware — that the company had installed in hundreds of venues. Overall, it found that the use of background music increased retail sales by an average of 8% and gastronomic sales by an average of 5.4%. More information on the research can be found here.

Rhino Staging, which provides stagecraft and rigging crews across the U.S., acquired ROC Rigging, a provider of special event rigging services for entertainment, corporate and private events in the Palm Springs, Calif., area. Matt Talley, the founder/CEO of ROC Rigging, along with the company’s management team, will remain in place as the company integrates with Rhino.

UnitedMasters partnered with The Coca-Cola Company for an event to be held this month in São Paulo celebrating Brazil’s independent music scene. The two companies have also selected independent artist Alee to perform at Coke Studio at Lollapalooza Brasil, in addition to Zudizilla, who will perform on the main stage.

Ed Sheeran wrapped his six-city tour of India on Feb. 15 with more than 120,000 tickets sold, according to Indian entertainment platform BookMyShow. Sheeran played seven nights across the country as part of his + – = ÷ x Tour that is continuing on to China, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and more.   The India […]

Hit songwriter Savan Kotecha has partnered with Universal Music India, Republic Records and Represent to launch an initiative aimed at discovering and developing India’s first globally impactful pop boy band. The nationwide talent hunt seeks to redefine India’s pop landscape by creating a group that reflects the country’s diversity, while also “igniting an unprecedented wave of fandom and paving the way for the Indian Teen Pop economy,” according to the announcement.

Kotecha, a Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated native of Texas, has played a pivotal role in shaping modern pop music over the last 15-plus years. His extensive catalog includes hits for Ariana Grande, One Direction, The Weeknd and Maroon 5. With a career that took off in Sweden alongside mentor Max Martin, Kotecha has contributed to chart-topping songs like Grande’s “Problem,” 1D’s “What Makes You Beautiful,” The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” and Maroon 5’s “One More Night.” He also served as executive music producer for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

Kotecha believes that India has long looked outside its borders for pop and teen idols, and this initiative aims to change that. “Boy bands have shaped generations around the world—now, it’s India’s turn,” he said. “We want to create a group that represents India’s dreams and sparks an unprecedented wave of fandom.”

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Universal Music Group India & South Asia managing director Sanujeet Bhujabal emphasized the project’s significance. “Our i-Pop strategy has focused on cultivating a Gen Z and Gen Alpha-driven sound in India. Partnering with Savan, we’re taking this vision global by launching India’s first true pop boy band. This will be the biggest talent hunt India has ever seen, and we are committed to building a long-term teen pop economy.”

Aayushman Sinha, founder of Represent, echoed this sentiment: “We’re stepping into a new era of talent development, something India has never seen before. More importantly, this project is about fostering sustainable careers for young artists and establishing pop music as a dominant cultural force.”

To shape the eventual band’s identity, the project has also partnered with Jugaad Motion Pictures.

Aspiring musicians can audition by following @greatestindianboyband on Instagram and submitting their entries on the contest’s website. To apply, candidates need to upload a video showcasing their talent and answering a few select questions. After a month-long selection process, shortlisted contestants will advance to the next round, with the final five then participating in what’s described as a “training bootcamp” ahead of their official debut.

Coldplay now holds the record for the largest-ever stadium shows of the 21st century following a two-night stint at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in India, according to Live Nation. The shows also marked the first time Coldplay has played in the country. Over the weekend (Jan. 25-26), the British band performed for 111,581 fans […]

On a recent trip to New York, I spoke on a panel discussing the state of the global music industry. During the Q&A, someone asked, “When will the day come that Taylor Swift isn’t the biggest artist in the world?” 
Answer: She already isn’t. 

Now, maybe it’s a matter of perspective. From a Western vantage point, it’s a valid question. Given Swift’s ubiquitous media coverage, it’s hard to imagine a day when she isn’t at the top of our industry. In the past year alone, she has broken records, won awards, and inspired fans. But her achievements are only one slice of the global picture. 

The music industry is increasingly interconnected, with content moving across markets and access to that content expanding in ways many do not see. With that comes the opportunity to reach massive populations from emerging markets, whose focus rests on domestic artists and local language content. I think a future where the next big global star arises from somewhere other than the U.S. is barreling towards us, and they won’t be singing in English. 

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My confidence here is informed by my home, the United Arab Emirates, which sits at the intersection of Asia, Africa, and Europe, and has a population representing over 200 nationalities. I am deeply embedded in this region and its music industry, and I have firsthand exposure to music’s evolution in these markets, watching the increasing dominance of local language music and recognizing how it is reshaping pop culture. That change is happening quickly across listenership, subscription growth, access to music and more. 

Evaluating a superstar from the West against a superstar from the East is not an apples-to-apples comparison. There is important context missing from the raw numbers, particularly in available streaming metrics, which fail to fully represent the consumption in the East or the potential for monetization in the years to come. 

The multinational streaming platforms have thoroughly established themselves as the leaders in monetization. For example, Spotify has carved out a reputation as the market leader with over 602 million monthly active users globally, 236 million of which are paying. However, those multinational platforms are relatively new to the MENA region and other emerging markets and are still building a user base. In contrast, domestic streaming platforms in the wider region have had longer to build a strong user base (e.g., India’s Gaana boasts 200 million monthly active users), but their monetization hasn’t caught up yet. 

However, if we look at the sheer market size, the opportunity in emerging markets is undeniable. The populations of the U.S. (330 million) and the U.K. (67 million) are dwarfed when compared to India (1.4 billion), MENA (489 million people), Pakistan (243 million), or Nigeria (227 million). Music consumption in some of these markets is already outpacing the West (in rate of growth) and will soon surpass the West (in volume). 

The data is there. Emerging markets have been the major driver of global subscription growth since 2021, and Goldman Sachs’s 2024 Music in the Air reports their contribution is expected to reach 70% by 2030. In Luminate’s 2023 report they highlighted that India’s streaming volume increased by nearly half a trillion streams year-over-year vs. 184 billion for the U.S. At that rate, particularly as the U.S. reaches a point of saturation, we could see India surpass the U.S. in consumption this year. 

You might think that the increased availability and monetization of streaming platforms in emerging markets would translate to the Taylor Swifts of the West reaching even more listeners. The truth is those listeners increasingly care more about their own domestic stars and regional music culture than what the West exports to them. 

YouTube launched globally in 2005 and has long been the established service for streaming and discovering music, thereby more adequately reflecting music listening preferences in the region. If we look specifically at Swift, there is no denying she is massively popular on the platform. On YouTube’s Global Music Charts for April 19-25 (the week her latest album dropped), she sat squarely at #1. However, eight of the Top 10 songs that week were actually non-English releases by artists from around the world. How many of you know the Bhojpuri hit “Maroon Color Sadiya” (which was #3 that same week)? Expand that to the Top 40, and only eight songs are in English. This is only on YouTube; consider the impact of additional domestic streaming platforms, which are even more skewed toward local language artists in each market. 

Local language matters; the era of pop music being defined as “Anglo-American” is over. Looking at streams per day in India in 2023, Statista found Hindi represented over 40% versus English’s 25% share. What’s more, vernacular language and regional music, which made up the remaining 34%, was notably the fastest-growing genre from 2020 to 2023. In its 2023 report, Luminate highlighted how the share of English language music declined by 12% globally since 2021, while the share of Hindi music has essentially doubled. Even in the U.S., the share of English language content is down 3.8% since 2021.  

The global diaspora which is consuming Arabic, Hindi, and other global languages is in the West too, augmenting the shift I’m describing. The meteoric transformation of K-pop into a global phenomenon is a particularly strong example of this expansion, thanks to groups like BTS, BLACKPINK and Stray Kids. In addition to its huge following in Korea, the genre has swept the West, with Korean being the 3rd biggest language by consumption in the U.S. in 2023, according to Luminate.

So, is Taylor Swift really the biggest artist in the world? Given the change I’ve described in streaming adoption across emerging markets, the importance of domestic platforms, and the sheer fact that on a country-by-country level domestic acts reign, the answer is no. Last time I checked, India, Pakistan, the Middle East, China and most of Africa have their own superstars — and they represent most of the populated world. There’s no telling how high those local artists will climb before their stars eclipse the likes of Swift in ways that become much more obvious to the rest of us. 

Spek is the founder/CEO of PopArabia & ESMAA and the executive vp of international & emerging markets at Reservoir. He was recently named to Billboard’s International Power Players 2024 list, having previously appeared on the list in 2021, 2022, and 2023. 

Nora Fatehi, a Canadian-born Bollywood star with Moroccan roots, has signed a recording contract with Warner Music as the actress, dancer and singer looks to add “global music star” to her professional accomplishments. Based in India, Fatehi will work closely with WMG teams in the U.S. and globally on music-related releases and projects, but remain signed with Indian label T-Series for her Bollywood work.

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Fatehi made her name across India performing what are known as item songs — special musical numbers inserted into a movie — in numerous Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. Her appearance in the 2018 film Satyameva Jayate, in which she performed the Bollywood classic “Dilbar,” led to her recording and sining an Arabic version of the song in collaboration with Moroccan group Fnaire that has racked up hundreds of millions of views on YouTube.

Her other musical endeavors have included collaborations with Tanzanian artist Rayvanny for the Afropop track “Pepeta,” as well as British singer Zack Knight for the pop song “Dirty Little Secret.” She has also released several solo tracks, including “I’m Bossy” earlier this year. According to WMG, Fatehi’s Bollywood songs have garnered over five billion views on YouTube, such as “Saki Saki,” Kusu Kusu” and “Garmi.”

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In late 2022, Fatehi shared the stage with global stars Davido, Ozuna, Manal, Balqees, Rahma and GIMS at the closing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, where she grabbed the spotlight for the English version of Cup anthem “Light the Sky.”

Indian music fans spend over 24 hours each week listening to music, with top genres including Bollywood and Indian Pop, among others, according to IFPI’s latest Engaging With Music report. Fatehi’s background and versatility, along with being fluent in multiple languages, means she won’t be limited to the vast market of her home base. The Middle East and North Africa, for example, was the fastest growing region for music in 2022, jumping 24%, reported IFPI, while Asia grew by 15.4%.

“Nora is an extraordinary talent, electric performer, and cross-cultural superstar whose music reflects the rich diversity of her background,” said WMG CEO Robert Kyncl. “Her passion and ambition are infectious and we’re excited to help her reach new audiences, places, and heights across the globe.”

Alfonso Perez-Soto, president of emerging markets for WMG, added: “I’ve been blown away by Nora’s star power. She has the creative ability and sheer stamina you need to become one of the world’s biggest artists. We can’t wait to put the global resources of Warner Music at her disposal as she starts the next chapter of her music career.”

In the meantime, Fatehi’s film career continues in its upward trajectory with the release on Friday (Feb. 23) of Crakk – Jeethegaa Toh Jiyegaa, a Hindi-language film billed as the “first-ever extreme sports action film in India.”

“I’ve enjoyed great success in my career so far, but this deal is a significant step forward in my musical journey, a new chapter in my international career,” she said. “My ambition is to be a global music star and performer, connecting with fans all over the world. I want to use my diverse cultural background to create music and dance that brings everyone together! I’m excited to work with Warner Music to leverage their experience and expertise to help me fulfill this goal.”

ByteDance will shut down its music streaming service Resso in India at the end of January, Billboard has confirmed with a ByteDance representative.
The decision, which was first reported by India-based outlet Moneycontrol, was made after Resso was removed from the Google Play and the Apple App stores in December on the orders of the Indian government. Billboard had not been able to determine the reason behind those removals at press time.

Notably, India was Resso’s last remaining market after the app was previously shuttered in Brazil and Indonesia.

“Unfortunately, owing to local market conditions, we can no longer continue to serve users of Resso in India,” said a ByteDance spokesperson in a statement sent to Billboard. “We have therefore taken the decision to shut down Resso and its associated operations on January 31st. Users will be offered a refund of their remaining subscription fees.”

Another factor working against Resso in India — where streaming competitors include such widely-used platforms as Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn and Wynk — was Sony Music’s removal of its catalog from the service in September 2022.

ByteDance, the Chinese-owned company behind TikTok, first launched Resso in India and Indonesia in March 2020, offering both free and paid tiers, before introducing it in Brazil later that year. In May 2023, ByteDance ended the free tier, making Resso a premium-only service.

In July, ByteDance announced it would roll out its new social music streaming service, TikTok Music, in Brazil and Indonesia, leading to the shutdown of Resso in both markets. Just two weeks later, TikTok Music was launched in closed beta in three additional countries: Mexico, Australia and Singapore, followed by a public launch in those markets in October.

ByteDance confirmed with Billboard that it has no plans to launch TikTok Music in India, where the government banned TikTok in June 2020, along with 58 other Chinese-owned apps, citing data privacy concerns. Those bans were made permanent in January 2021.

Warner Music’s affiliates in Canada and India are teaming up for 91 NORTH RECORDS, a joint venture with the aim of identifying and launching artists of South Asian heritage.
Said to be a first-of-its-kind JV, the new entity is guided by celebrated artist and producer Ikwinder “Ikky” Singh, who has chalked up more than two billion combined streams with such songs as Shubh’s “Baller”, Diljit Dosanjh’s “Chauffeur” and Sidhu Moose Wala’s “Bambiha Bole”. 

Ikky, who launched his own label, 4N Records, in partnership with Warner Music and Coalition Music in 2021, serves as creative director for 91 NORTH RECORDS.

The venture launches to the public today (Aug. 23) with its first signings, Canadian-based Punjabi artists Karan Aujla and Jonita Gandhi, both of whom work closely with Ikky and A&R director Charlie B.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the blending of Indian and Western sounds into culturally impactful, innovative music,” Ikky comments in a statement. The new business “exists to elevate artists pursuing this fusion. Punjabi and South Asian music already competes worldwide, and I’m thrilled to collaborate with emerging talents, showcasing and amplifying what they have to offer. This is no experiment; it’s the future.”

91 NORTH RECORDS was presented Tuesday with a special event at Warner Music Canada’s offices in Toronto. Its name is a reference to India’s country code and Canada’s geographical location, and the logo is inspired by India’s national flower — the lotus.

“There is an incredible new generation of talent rising, influenced by their South Asian heritage, and we want to make sure these artists are represented both here and around the world,” comments Kristen Burke, president, Warner Music Canada. The label “allows artists to be truly authentic, and our global network gives us the opportunity to showcase their culture on a global stage.”

Adds Jay Mehta, managing director, Warner Music India: “This is certainly going to be a gamechanger initiative for artists who will now have global support from A&R, marketing, collaborations and more.”

Canada is home to almost 2.6 million people of South Asian heritage. Those expats have a “strong musical connection” with the subcontinent, reads a joint statement from Warner Music Canada and Warner Music India.

Punjabi-Canadian acts accounted for three of the top 10 tracks in India last year, according to data supplied by IFPI. 

MUMBAI — India is driving Spotify’s international expansion, vaulting into the top five territories in total users for the platform after just four years of operation in the country.

“India is the single market that has contributed the most to our global growth over the last year,” says Gustav Gyllenhammar, Spotify’s vp of markets and subscriber growth. The company’s user count in India has tripled over the last two years, according to Gyllenhammar. 

Spotify did not provide numbers, but Comscore estimates the platform has about 55 million monthly active users (MAUs) in India, and Spotify is the country’s top audio-streaming service in terms of engagement, with nearly 10 billion tracks streamed in India in January alone, sources close to the company say. Last year, Spotify says, Bollywood playback singer Arijit Singh tallied more streams on the app than Beyonce. Then in January, Singh broke into the top 10 of Spotify’s Global Top Artists chart, even though most of his plays were in India.

Despite this, India is not a top five revenue market for the service, Gyllenhammar says, demonstrating the limits of the country — which has 1.4 billion people and is expected to soon pass China as the most populous nation — as a music market. Multiple factors are at play, including India’s significantly lower per-stream payouts, a resistance to paying for music subscriptions and the challenges of a market with two official languages and another 22 regional ones.

India was the 17th-largest recorded-music market in 2021 with $219 million in revenue, up 20% from 2020 and driven largely by streaming, according to IFPI’s Global Music Report. But at just $0.16, its per-capita music revenue is among the lowest in the world. 

India’s economy is one of the world’s largest, but a 2022 report by the International Monetary Fund ranks its per-capita income at 140 out of 190 countries, which contributes to the problems streaming services have in getting more consumers to pay for subscriptions. A monthly Spotify subscription costs 119 rupees ($1.45) compared with $9.99 in the United States. Gyllenhammar says the service doesn’t plan to increase prices in India in the near future.

India’s streaming market is estimated to have over 300 million MAUs. (For comparison, there are 219 million in the United States.) When Spotify launched there in 2019, it was the eighth major audio-streaming service to enter a market ruled by local streaming services Gaana, JioSaavn and Wynk. Since then, it has overtaken Gaana, which has turned into a subscription-only service after talks for an acquisition by Wynk’s parent, the telco Bharti Airtel, fell through. JioSaavn, which saw an overhaul of its top management last year, has witnessed a fall in engagement. 

Though JioSaavn and Wynk still have more MAUs than Spotify, 20.1% of respondents picked Spotify as their favorite music streaming service, compared with 4.9% who chose either JioSaavn or Wynk, in a study conducted last year by IFPI and the Indian Music Industry, the country’s recorded-music trade group. (YouTube topped the list with 46%.)

Spotify’s closest competition for engagement, according to industry insiders, is ByteDance-owned Resso, which officially launched in India in March 2020 as one of three test markets for the app outside of China. (Indonesia and Brazil are the others.) Resso, they say, has a stronger presence in smaller cities and tallies a similar number of streams. But it’s been growing at a slower rate than Spotify and has been affected by the loss of Sony Music’s catalog — which includes several hit Indian film soundtracks — after Sony removed its titles from the service in September.  

Indian music executives say Spotify has better technology for generating algorithmic recommendations and playlist personalization — and that gives it an edge over domestic rivals. It also emulated its local competition by emphasizing the importance of regional-language music and by creating a generous ad-based tier.

In India, Spotify offers a mobile-only “mini” subscription where users pay 7 rupees ($0.09) per day. It offers ad-free music on phones, group listening sessions and downloads of 30 songs per device. There aren’t any restrictions on the number of songs free users can stream in the ad-based tier.

A Focus On Servicing Local Languages

Today, in addition to English, Spotify offers its service in 12 Indian languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi and Urdu. To focus on local languages, Spotify has had to customize its operations. “Until we came to India, most [of our] markets [were dominated by] one or two languages,” says Amarjit Singh Batra, GM/managing director for India. “The whole structure, from the teams to the way we work to how we look at recommendations, curation — every piece had to be re-looked at.”

Local content accounts for about 85% of listening on domestic platforms like JioSaavn and Wynk, for example, but initially only made up 20% to 30% of Spotify streams in the market. “When we launched, consumption looked very similar to many other countries globally, [which is] predominantly international English-language music,” Gyllenhammar says. Then Spotify pushed to expand its audience beyond India’s big cities, and today, out of Spotify’s 184 markets, India has the highest share of local consumption, at 70%.

During the pandemic, as competitors tightened their budgets, the Swedish company says it spent heavily on nationwide and region-specific advertising and marketing — including ads on broadcast and streaming TV. “We have never paid so much attention to marketing in any single market,” says Gyllenhammar. The platform has run marketing campaigns in Hindi and English, as well as the four main languages spoken in south India: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.

Spotify has also resisted pressure from labels to ensure their songs feature at the top of playlists, which music companies had come to expect from Indian platforms. “They keep looking at Spotify to be something like that,” says Padmanabhan “Paddy” NS, Spotify’s head of artist and label partnerships. Instead, Spotify realized early on the potential of independent and non-film music and showcased them through playlists and programs such as Radar. The strategy paid dividends during the pandemic when the closure of cinemas led to a paucity of new soundtrack releases, which local platforms had relied on.

Since it launched in the country, Spotify has more than doubled its number of India-based employees, Gyllenhammar and Singh say, and they’re planning to expand their India ad sales teams five-fold by the end of the year. (They decline to share how many people the company currently employs in India.)  

While India is primarily a low-price, high-volume play for Spotify, the country offers tremendous growth potential. It has the second-largest share of internet and smartphone users in the world (after China), at about 658 million, though that’s just under half of its total population. (The United States and the United Kingdom both have 90% internet penetration.) “If you look at other sectors online, whether it’s in search or social media or e-commerce, [India is] a billion-dollar market for the global players,” Gyllenhammar says.

Singh Batra says Spotify’s focus over the next four years will be on reaching “a level where the audience for each and every core [Indian] language is able to say, ‘Spotify is for me, for my region.’” By focusing on regional-language listeners, Spotify aims to gain new consumers in smaller cities and rural areas, as well as by pulling customers from JioSaavn and Resso, which dominate those regions.

The company says it’s gaining subscribers in India at a faster rate than total users. In 2022, premium subscriptions grew by 85% and MAUs by 80% year on year. Spotify executives say they see India following the same growth path as Latin America, where the level of paid users is now about the same as the global average of 40%.

It took eight years after Spotify launched in Brazil in 2014 for the region to reach that 40% level, Gyllenhammar says. “It didn’t happen in the first four years,” he observes. “It happened during the second phase of those eight years. So similarly, for India, the next four years is a period where we will see improvement on this side.”

MUMBAI – Spotify has removed Indian record label Zee Music Company’s catalog after negotiations for a renewal of their licensing agreement fell through, Billboard has learned. As a result, the No.1 track on Spotify in India over the past two weeks, “Apna Bana Le” from the soundtrack to the 2022 Hindi film Bhediya, is no longer available on the platform. 

“Spotify and Zee Music have been unable to reach a licensing agreement,” Spotify says in a statement sent to Billboard. “Throughout these negotiations, Spotify has tried to find creative ways to strike a deal with Zee Music and will continue our good faith negotiations in hopes of finding a mutually agreeable solution soon.”

Anurag Bedi, the chief business officer at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, declined to comment.

Apart from Spotify, Zee Music Company is also absent from Gaana, which it disappeared from in 2022 only a few months before the Indian audio-streaming platform became a subscription-only service.

On March 14, the last day its releases could be streamed on Spotify, Zee Music had over two dozen tracks on Spotify’s Daily Top 200 Songs chart for India. These included long-running Bollywood hits such as “Maiyya Mainu” from Jersey (2022), the title tracks from Kalank (2019) and Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas (2019), “Makhna” from Drive (2019), “Namo Namo” from Kedarnath (2018) and “Zaalima” from Raees (2017).

The label’s catalog also includes soundtracks to films distributed by sister company Zee Studios, such as the 2018 rom-com Veere Di Wedding and the 2019 hip-hop-centric Gully Boy.

Zee Music Company, which is part of the Zee Entertainment Enterprises media conglomerate, is one of India’s largest domestic record labels. Its YouTube subscriber base of 93.6 million makes it the second most-subscribed-to Indian music channel after global leader T-Series, which boasts 239 million subscribers.