Spotify in India was launched a year ago on 27th February, 2019 and since then it has taken the Indian audio streaming market by storm, giving tough competition to home-grown apps like JioSaavn, Gaana and International streaming service such as Amazon Prime Music.
According to their blog,
There are now more than 6,400 Indian creators using Spotify for Artists, the platform that lets artists and their teams see who’s listening to their music and take control of their artist profile.
In India listeners from over 2,300 cities are tuning into more than 350 curated playlists. Playlists such as New Music Hindi and Punjabi 101—are up from 120 at launch. In honor of this anniversary, Spotify has spotted some of the trends and themes around a year’s worth of Spotify streaming in India.
Here’s what spotify spotted!
Love for local artists
Spotify listeners in India have streamed over 130 artists each in the past year. Overall, the platform found that the top five most-streamed in the country are from India. Topping the list are three beloved Bollywood singers: Arijit Singh, Tanishk Bagchi, and Neha Kakkar. The age group of 35 to 44-year-olds stream Indian artists at a higher rate than any other.
Indians love Global hits too! The most-streamed international artist in India is Post Malone, who was also Spotify’s most-streamed global artist in 2019; BTS and Taylor Swift are popular with Indian listeners as well.
The most-streamed track in India over the past year is the global smash “Señorita” by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, followed by Arijit Singh and Mithoon’s “Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage” and Sachet Tandon and Parampara Thakur’s “Bekhayali” (both from the soundtrack to the popular Indian film “Kabir Singh”).
Music sets the mood
Love songs are a major part of Indian culture, which is why Spotify’s Bollywood Mush playlist is one of the top-streamed playlists among users. Interestingly, listeners in the eastern part of the country—West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, Bihar, and Sikkim—have streamed the playlist the most (it seems love rises in the east!).
During Diwali, holiday’s themed playlists—which lean heavily on songs about love and partying—got major traction on the festival’s peak day on October 27, 2019, with plays increasing by almost 4,400%.
Pressing play on podcasts and pop
India has fired up its podcast lineup, launching its first three Spotify original podcasts in December 2019. 22 Yarns With Gaurav Kapur, Bhaskar Bose, and Love Aaj Kal with Aastha & Ankit were each produced in India to cater to an Indian audience. These podcasts, which are all about pop culture, including cricket, fiction thriller storytelling, and relationship advice, respectively, also made it to the top five on the original podcast charts.
The top three music genres streamed across India are pop, filmi (music from popular Indian movies) and hip-hop. K-Pop also has a growing fan base: Spotify’s most-followed K-Pop playlist, K-Pop Daebak, is a popular choice for Indian listeners. And India is in the top 22% of K-Pop listening in all of Spotify’s markets globally, based on streaming from the past 90 days.
