New Delhi: Royalties generated by Indian artists on Spotify grew 29% in 2025, with every major Indian language contributing to the growth, according to Spotify’s annual Loud & Clear report.
Telugu royalties surged more than 120% year-on-year, while Marathi royalties rose nearly 50% and Bengali royalties increased by nearly 40%.
From Haryanvi to Malayalam, the growth of streaming is translating India’s linguistic diversity into growing income opportunities for artists across the country.
The latest data from Spotify’s Loud & Clear report tracks the distribution of more than $11 billion in global music royalties by Spotify in 2025, taking the platform’s all-time royalty distribution to nearly $70 billion.
Indian Artists on Spotify Gain More Global Discoverability
The global reach of Indian artists on Spotify expanded significantly in 2025. Listeners around the world pressed play on an Indian artist they had never heard before 12.8 billion times during the year, marking a 14% increase from the previous year.
Indian music across languages and genres is finding international audiences at a rapid pace. This growing discovery is also translating into deeper listening. Indian artists on Spotify were streamed nearly 335 billion times in 2025, amounting to more than 20 billion hours of music.
Royalties generated by Indian artists on Spotify increased 29% year-on-year in 2025. At the same time, the number of artists generating more than INR 10 million annually rose 21% year-on-year.
The number of artists earning more than INR 50 million has more than doubled since 2023. The growth is not limited to the top tier of performers, with Spotify’s data indicating that the expansion is taking place across the wider artist base, languages and musical genres.
Indian Artists on Spotify Strengthen Presence in Domestic Charts
The growing influence of Indian artists on Spotify is also visible in the platform’s domestic charts. In 2025, 90% of the tracks featured on Spotify India’s Daily Top 50 were by Indian artists.
I-Pop, or popular Indian music released outside film soundtracks, accounted for half of Spotify’s 2025 year-end top 10 in India. Songs by Aditya Rikhari, Kushagra, Anuv Jain, Faheem Abdullah and Jasleen Royal charted alongside some of the country’s biggest film soundtracks.
Aditya Rikhari’s independent track “Sahiba” made history in 2025 by holding the number one position on Spotify India for more than 11 consecutive weeks.
Speaking about his journey, artist Aditya Rikhari said: “Streaming changed the scale of what was possible for me as an independent artist. Songs that started from a very personal place were able to travel to listeners across the country, sometimes long after they were released.
Spotify’s discovery tools, in particular, helped my music reach a much wider set of listeners, many of whom went on to genuinely connect with and love the songs. I believe the ecosystem will only keep evolving for the better for people who are trying to build careers as musicians in India, especially with partners like Spotify supporting that journey. So to every fan of mine who aspires to become a musician – just put your music out. You never know where it might travel.”
The growing role of Indian artists on Spotify also extends beyond independent music. Independent artists are increasingly contributing to film soundtracks, with Dhurandhar, one of the biggest film albums of 2025, featuring independent artists including Jasmine Sandlas and Simran Choudhary.
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Independent Artists Gain Greater Opportunities Through Streaming
Reflecting on the changing landscape, artist Simran Choudhary said: “Streaming has completely changed what it means to be a Punjabi artist today.
You no longer have to wait for a big label or a traditional industry gatekeeper to take your music to the world. I’ve experienced that first-hand with my own independent music and film songs like Lutt Le Gaya.
What excites me most is that audiences are now discovering the artist behind the song, not just the song itself. For an independent female artist like me, that ability to build a direct relationship with listeners has been incredibly empowering.”
The international reach of Indian artists on Spotify is also reflected in Spotify’s 2025 Global Impact List. Eleven of the top 15 songs on the list were artist-first releases spanning different languages and genres, including music from AP Dhillon, Karan Aujla, Hanumankind, Anuv Jain and Kushagra.
Dhruvank Vaidya, Head of Music & Podcast, Spotify India, said: “In 2025, 14% more listeners globally discovered an Indian artist on Spotify for the first time – and the listening went deep.
Indian artists accumulated nearly 335 billion streams on the platform last year, over 20 billion hours of music, with royalties up 29% and growing in every major Indian language. Telugu alone is up over 120% year on year.”
According to the data, the economic reach of artists performing in languages such as Haryanvi and Malayalam has expanded considerably.
The audience for these languages was already present, while Spotify’s infrastructure has helped surface the music, monetise it and enable artists to earn from their work.
The report highlighted examples including two brothers, Banjaare, from a village in Haryana reaching number one on a global chart, while 22-year-old Aksomaniac from Thiruvananthapuram also broke into a global chart.
“Half of our year-end top ten in India last year came from outside film soundtracks. The music that’s travelling furthest is the music artists made on their own terms, in their own languages.”
Regional Languages Drive Growth for Indian Artists on Spotify
The growth of Indian artists on Spotify is being seen across regional languages, with increased audience engagement generating growing economic value for artists who were previously less visible to the wider music industry.
Spotify’s data shows:
- Telugu: Royalties generated globally increased by more than 120% year-on-year
- Marathi: Royalties increased by nearly 50%
- Bengali: Royalties increased by nearly 40%
- Malayalam: Royalties increased by more than 30%
- Hindi: Royalties increased by nearly 30%
- Tamil: Royalties increased by 20%
Haryanvi music has also recorded significant growth on the platform. Streams for Haryanvi music increased nearly sevenfold on Spotify between February 2023 and February 2026, making it one of the fastest-growing languages on the platform.
Nearly 100 Haryanvi acts now rank among Spotify India’s top 5,000 artists.
The growing popularity of regional music has also influenced Spotify’s artist development initiatives. This year, the platform expanded its RADAR programme to Malayalam, following its expansion to Punjabi and Tamil.
Indian Artists on Spotify Expand International Footprint
The global expansion of Indian artists on Spotify is not limited to one language or genre. More than 40% of all royalties earned by Indian artists on Spotify in 2025 came from listeners outside India.
The international revenue was spread across languages rather than being concentrated solely in Hindi. Through editorial playlists, algorithmic discovery and programmes such as RADAR, artists are reaching audiences beyond their traditional home markets.
Punjabi music has emerged as a major example of India’s international music reach. Punjabi artists are headlining arenas across continents and charting internationally. Spotify recently featured Punjabi artists Tegi Pannu and Watan Sahi on RADAR Global, highlighting emerging talent for audiences worldwide.
The global reach of Indian artists on Spotify is also evident across other regional languages.
Anirudh Ravichander’s Tamil album Coolie crossed 100 million Spotify streams within 10 days and earned a spot on a Times Square billboard through Spotify.
Sai Abhyankar and Sai Smriti’s Tamil single “Aasa Kooda” reached 238 million Spotify streams and was highlighted in Spotify’s global growth report.
Hanumankind, a global rapper born in Kerala, crossed 360 million Spotify streams with “Big Dawgs” and reached number one on a Spotify global chart.
Women Artists Increase Their Presence Globally
Women are also becoming an increasingly important part of the global story surrounding Indian artists on Spotify.
Local streams of Indian female artists on Spotify increased 27% year-on-year in 2025, while international streams grew 7%.
Jasmine Sandlas’ appearances on the Dhurandhar soundtrack helped propel her to number three on the Spotify Global Top 200. In October 2025, she released “Legal Robbery,” her first full-length album in more than five years, through her own label, Jasmine Sandlas Records.
Through programmes such as EQUAL and RADAR, Spotify continues to amplify women artists across languages, genres and different stages of their careers.
The growth of Indian artists on Spotify therefore extends across independent music, film music, regional-language releases and international audiences, with artists increasingly reaching listeners without relying exclusively on traditional music industry pathways.
Fans Continue to Build Audiences for Indian Music
The growing audience for Indian artists on Spotify is also reflected in user-created playlists.
In 2025, 112 million user-created playlists globally and nearly 59 million playlists within India featured Indian artists.
These playlists are enabling fans to curate Indian music, share songs and introduce new artists to wider audiences.
As streaming continues to connect regional-language music with listeners in India and overseas, the latest Loud & Clear data highlights the growing reach of Indian artists on Spotify across languages, genres and markets.
