India’s music industry is not only booming but streaming platforms are spreading the word to artists across languages and genres.
Spotify’s latest India Loud & Clear 2026 report shows that royalties generated by Indian artists increased by 29% in 2025, highlighting the increasing commercial impact music streaming is having on Indian artists in the country.
One of the major takeaways of the report is the increase in regional-language music. Telugu music accounted for more than 120% increase in royalties year-on-year, making it the fastest growing major Indian language in terms of royalties generated globally.
Marathi music also grew by over 50% and Bengali music in nearly 40%. Malayalam royalties increased by more than 30%, Hindi almost 30% and Tamil by 20%.
The figures reveal a wider change in the Indian music scene as more people are listening to music beyond the typical Bollywood. Streaming has allowed regional and independent artists to reach an audience outside India and do so in comfort.
According to Spotify’s report, Indian artists were streamed nearly 335 billion times in 2025, or more than 20 billion hours of time.
The platform also recorded 12.8 billion first time discoveries of Indian artists globally, revealing the enormous impact that Indian music is having on new markets.
International listeners are also contributing to this growth. More than 40% of Indian artists' royalties were paid out by listeners outside India, and this indicates the growing global audience of Indian music in different languages.
The rise is also good for artists beyond the biggest names in the industry. Artists earning more than 1 crore a year in royalties were 21% more than the previous year and the number of artists earning more than 5 crore has more than doubled since 2023 in the industry.
The changing landscape is especially evident in independent music. Spotify’s data indicates that Indian artists are increasingly finding audiences through original releases rather than focusing solely on film soundtracks.
In 2025, almost 90% of tracks in Spotify India’s Daily Top 50 are by Indian artists and so the strength of homegrown music on the platform is very evident.
Telugu music is particularly booming. Its more than 120% increase in royalties is evidence of the growing voice of Telugu-language songs in all parts of the world.
And it shows how regional music can go beyond its traditional marketplace to compete with foreign music on a global streaming platform.
As a whole the India Loud & Clear 2026 results show the changing economics of Indian music.
And with streaming providing new opportunities for regional, independent and emerging artists in India, India’s multilingual music culture is now becoming a very important part of the global digital music industry.
