Over the last several decades the music industry has predominantly focused on the largest, most established market – the U.S. Recently there has been a shift in focus on emerging or flourishing global markets, especially as music listeners become global consumers. India represents such an example and stands out as one of the largest markets with exceptionally strong recent growth.
What most people in the industry do not know is that India is currently the 2nd largest streaming market today, only behind the U.S. in Total On-Demand streaming (audio + video). Pulling in 891B Total OD streams year-to-date (week ending 11/16/2023), the Indian market makes up over 14% of Total Global audio and video streams. This contribution is likely to grow given the market has experienced 81% streaming growth year-to-date compared to the same time last year.
Not only is the streaming market growing, but India’s music audiences are also increasing their overall engagement with music as well. Among online general population ages 13+ in India, a music listener spends on average 72% more money monthly and 15% more time weekly on music in 2023 compared to 2022. This increased investment is partially due to a growth in listeners choosing to pay for premium music streaming services – the rate of music listeners in India paying for premium music streaming services has gone up by 7% this year vs. last year. The general growth in premium service usage is noteworthy compared to more mature markets like the U.S. where paid subscription streaming penetration has been relatively stable in recent years.
While the 25.5% streaming match rate we see through the Luminate Similarity Score suggests India is a more insulated market compared to the US, we find an increased appetite for global music among Indian music audiences, especially among younger audiences that is likely to shift this trend. Nearly 9 out of 10 music listeners in India agree with statements such as “I enjoy discovering music from other countries and cultures.” Over 3/4 of music listeners say they listen to music artists outside of India with the highest rates among Millennials followed by Gen Z.
Despite the lower Similarity Scores, India’s music presence is starting to be felt globally as music listeners are increasingly more interested in music from different cultures and in different languages. One example comes from the Oscars earlier this year when movie history was made as “Naatu Naatu” by MM Keeravaani and Chandrabose won the Best Original Song, making it the first song from India to receive the award.
Look for more Global trends in Luminate’s 2023 Year End Music Report publishing January 10, 2024. Signup for the live webinar now.
Sources:
Luminate Music Connect Consumption, India Music 360 study, U.S. Music 360 study, Global Music 360 studies
Luminate Similarity Score measures streaming crossover — identifying the shared streaming volume between the Top 10k tracks in one country and another based on Total On-Demand (audio + video) streams.
