Since launching in India in 2019, Spotify has opened up alternatives for artists and creators throughout the nation and established new methods for listeners to find and eat audio. Five years later, we’re now the most-loved audio-streaming platform in India, particularly amongst Gen Z and millennials.
We kicked off our anniversary celebrations earlier this month by looking on the influence we’ve had over the past 5 years, from Indian music and podcast consumption habits to the most-exported Indian artists. For the nation’s artist group, the outcomes communicate for themselves.
Spotify’s presence in India has related proficient native artists with international audiences, serving to share their music far and extensive. Today, extra listeners than ever are discovering Indian artists all over the world—in 2023, the worldwide consumption of music from India grew by 85% year-over-year. And in reality, Indian musician Arijit Singh is the third-most-followed artist on Spotify worldwide.
Spotify has additionally deeply invested in educating Indian artists about Spotify for Artists, a platform that empowers artists by displaying them how their music is being consumed and serving to them higher join with followers. Today, greater than 28,000 artists from India use Spotify for Artists, which is greater than double what it was a yr in the past.
For the Record sat down with 5 artists—Anuv Jain, King, Jasleen Royal, Armaan Malik, and Jonita Gandhi—who’ve been with Spotify from the start of our journey in India to listen to how they’ve discovered new audiences and created deeper connections.
Anuv Jain
Anuv Jain is one in every of India’s hottest unbiased music artists. His 2018 single “Baarishein” put him on the map. The singer-songwriter from Punjab depends nearly solely on acoustics and soulful lyrics, drawing inspiration from his personal life experiences.
How do you suppose Spotify has helped advance your profession?
I’m not positive whether or not folks know this, however my music has been up on Spotify since earlier than the platform even launched in India. So, we’ve had a protracted relationship. I believe Spotify listeners need to discover much more music, in addition to completely different genres, and that has undoubtedly helped me out. All issues thought-about, I believe Spotify has helped me attain so many individuals, and I’m actually grateful for that.
Share a narrative that highlights how Spotify has modified the way in which you join with followers.
Spotify has given me a platform to gauge how my viewers is perceiving my music, the age group my viewers belongs to, the cities I’ve probably the most listenership from, the nations I’ve managed to faucet into, and a lot extra. This informs the way in which I join with my viewers. Since my viewers principally contains millennial and Gen Z listeners, this influences the way in which I talk with them on my social platforms, the content material I put out, and the cities I need to go to and carry out at. I simply concluded my tour within the U.Ok. and Ireland, which occurred as a result of we discovered that I’ve nice listenership within the area. We bought out each reveals in London, in addition to the Dublin and Manchester reveals!
King
After his 2019 breakthrough on the Indian actuality present MTV Hustle, rapper and pop star King has delivered a slew of hits. His Hindi-language monitor “Maan Meri Jaan” was the most-streamed tune of 2023 in India on Spotify, and he additionally teamed up with Nick Jonas on a bilingual remix, “Maan Meri Jaan (Afterlife).”
How do you suppose Spotify has helped advance your profession?
Spotify has been an important a part of my story ever since its algorithms and playlists took my tune “Tu Aake Dekhle” and shared it with listeners across the nation and the world. It has helped me not solely join with my Kingsclan, but additionally appeal to new followers who’ve supported me and my music unconditionally.
Share a narrative that highlights how Spotify has modified the way in which you join with followers.
The incontrovertible fact that numerous folks have reached out to me over time mentioning how they’ve discovered a protected area inside my music all the time finally ends up reminding me of the true energy of music and the way it reaches folks like I may’ve by no means imagined. I’m grateful for having the ability to share my music by this platform and having the ability to contact the lives of individuals in even the smallest method potential.
Jasleen Royal
Jasleen Royal is a self-taught singer-songwriter-composer who broke onto the scene in 2009 as a semifinalist on India’s Got Talent. She’s since constructed a powerful music profession, together with composing plenty of hit Bollywood tracks.
How do you suppose Spotify has helped advance your profession?
Spotify related me to my followers, permitting me to share my music with them instantly. It has given me distinctive attain internationally. Also, Spotify for Artists gives insights into how your songs are performing—and the place—permitting you to make use of that data to plan even higher.
Share a narrative that highlights how Spotify has modified the way in which you join with followers.
I bear in mind when my monitor “Kho Gaye Hum Kahan” out of the blue picked up years after its launch. With Spotify for Artists, I used to be in a position to see the spike in streams—which in any other case would have gone unnoticed—and examine the place it was coming from. These sorts of statistics are very insightful for an artist.
Armaan Malik
Armaan Malik received his begin as a baby singer in Bollywood. After cementing his place within the Indian music trade, the singer-songwriter forayed into the worldwide circuit along with his 2020 debut English single, “Control.” In 2022, he even teamed up with Ed Sheeran on a remix of “2step.”
How do you suppose Spotify has helped advance your profession?
Spotify has revolutionized my profession. Its huge attain and the exceptional surge in listenership it allows has unlocked alternatives in nations I by no means even imagined reaching. Beyond the numbers, it’s the genuine connections with listeners from all walks of life that has been actually transformative. Spotify has been instrumental in shaping my pop profession, catapulting it to thrilling new heights.
Share a narrative that highlights how Spotify has modified the way in which you join with followers.
A unbelievable technique of participating with followers and increasing my viewers is thru curated playlists, significantly these crafted by artists themselves. One instance is my very own playlist, Hooked. It not solely showcases my private music preferences but additionally serves as a platform for teasing upcoming releases by intelligent hints and hidden surprises. It’s been an modern option to join with followers and maintain them enthusiastic about what’s subsequent in my musical journey. Another nice characteristic is Clips, which might improve the storytelling, including extra layers to the tune inside the ecosystem.
Jonita Gandhi
Born in New Delhi and raised in Toronto, Jonita Gandhi’s Canadian and Indian heritage helped form her numerous musical palette. Today, the artist is an acclaimed multilingual singer who has recorded songs for a few of India’s greatest films. Earlier this yr, she launched her debut EP, Love Like That.
How do you suppose Spotify has helped advance your profession?
Spotify has actually helped me perceive who’s listening to my music and what they’re resonating with. As a flexible artist, it’s typically arduous to know who’s invested in my music, however Spotify has helped me faucet into my true followers.
Share a narrative that highlights how Spotify has modified the way in which you join with followers.
The first billboard I used to be featured on in my hometown of Toronto and in New York City’s Times Square was a part of a Spotify marketing campaign. I actually consider that modified the way in which I related with my viewers, particularly internationally. It made me really feel seen and it was a full-circle expertise.
Dive into our I-Pop Superhits playlist to find a number of the hottest pop music from Indian artists.