Spotify says Indian artists’ royalties rose 29% in 2025, led by Telugu music
Spotify reported a 29% year-on-year increase in royalties paid to Indian artists in 2025. Telugu royalties rose more than 120%, while over 40% of Indian artists’ royalties came from listeners outside India—signalling growing regional-language and export potential.
What happened
Spotify reported 29% growth in royalties for Indian artists in 2025, driven by regional-language and independent music. Telugu royalties rose over 120%, while
Key facts
- Indian artists' Spotify royalties rose 29% year-on-year in 2025
- Telugu artist royalties rose over 120%
- Marathi royalties rose nearly 50%; Bengali nearly 40%; Malayalam over 30%; Hindi nearly 30%; Tamil 20%
- Artists earning over Rs 1 crore annually increased 21%
- Indian artists recorded nearly 335 billion streams and over 20 billion listening hours
- Over 40% of Indian artists' royalties came from outside India
- Haryanvi streams grew nearly sevenfold between February 2023 and February 2026
Why this matters
Look for partnerships or acquisitions involving Telugu-focused labels, rights catalogs, distribution platforms, and diaspora marketing capabilities to capture India’s cross-border streaming growth.
What to watch
- Spotify disclosure of Indian paid-subscriber growth, ARPU and regional-language listening share rather than royalty growth alone.
- Whether Telugu royalty growth remains above 50% in 2026 after the low-base expansion effect fades.
- Share of Indian artist revenue coming from international listeners, especially growth in the US, UAE, UK, Canada and Australia.
- Announcement volume of regional-label distribution, publishing, catalog-acquisition and brand-partnership deals.
- Ticket sales and venue expansion for Telugu and other regional Indian acts outside India.
- Changes in Indian music licensing, royalty transparency or platform payout rules that could alter artist capture rates.
- Spotify is likely to expand Telugu-language editorial programming, creator marketing, localized recommendations and partnerships with labels, film-music studios and telecom/bundle distributors.
- Indian labels and music publishers may pursue catalog-rights acquisitions and longer-term deals for regional-language artists with proven international listenership.
- Concert promoters, ticketing platforms and merchandise sellers may test more Telugu-focused diaspora tours, campus events and festival lineups.
- Retail brands seeking younger South Indian audiences may increase artist-led campaigns, limited-edition merchandise and regional cultural-event sponsorships.