Indian artists earning ₹5 crore-plus in streaming royalties more than doubled since 2023

Spotify says royalties paid to Indian artists rose 29% in 2025, with strong regional-language growth led by Telugu. The platform’s data points to rising creator monetisation and playlist-led discovery, offering brands a read on fast-emerging cultural audiences.

— Source publishedFri, 4 Sept, 2026, 08:47 IST·First seen Fri, 4 Sept, 2026, 09:42 IST·Source ET Brand Equity

What happened

Spotify India · Spotify reports sharp growth in Indian music-streaming royalties, led by regional languages and independent artists. More Indian artists are

Key facts

  • Indian artists earning over Rs 1 crore in annual royalties rose 21% year-on-year
  • Number earning over Rs 5 crore in royalties more than doubled since 2023
  • Spotify royalties for Indian artists rose 29% in 2025
  • Telugu royalties grew over 120% in 2025
  • Marathi royalties rose nearly 50%; Bengali around 40%; Malayalam over 30%; Hindi around 30%; Tamil 20%
  • Haryanvi music grew nearly sevenfold since February 2023
  • Nearly 100 Haryanvi acts are in Spotify's global top 5,000 artists
  • 112 million user-created playlists worldwide featured Indian artists in 2025, including nearly 59 million created in India

Why this matters

Target partnerships or acquisitions in regional creator networks, music-marketing platforms and live-experience businesses that can convert streaming momentum into brand access.

What to watch

  • Spotify and other platforms disclosing continued double-digit Indian royalty growth in 2026.
  • Growth in Telugu, Tamil, Punjabi, Malayalam and Marathi playlist consumption relative to Hindi and English listening.
  • Regional artists announcing tours, consumer-brand endorsements, merchandise lines or direct-to-fan storefronts.
  • Concert ticket sell-through and sponsorship pricing in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and tier-2 cities.
  • Platform changes to playlist curation, royalty policy or music licensing that alter independent-artist reach.
  • Build a regional music-fandom map using streaming rank, concert demand, social engagement and store footprint by language market.
  • Pilot Telugu-first creator collaborations tied to local festivals, campus audiences and store-level offers rather than a single national campaign.
  • Create shoppable artist partnership formats: limited-edition merchandise, QR playlist trails, loyalty-point rewards and live-event redemption.
  • Use playlist and artist adjacency in retail media targeting, with brand-safety controls and lift measurement by market and language.
  • Secure flexible rights for short-form audio, in-store playback, social content and commerce use before regional artist rates rise.

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