Spotify India turns three, focus remains on growing the market
The milestone is defined by strong local creator partnerships, and Spotify’s commitment to increasing awareness and preference for audio streaming in India.
Spotify has today completed three years of launch in India. Since February 2019, the country has grown to become one of the most important markets for Spotify globally, with local success being defined by three main focus areas:
- Leading creator education to foster their growth on Spotify: Through several masterclasses over three years, more than 6000 local artists have been able to plan their releases more effectively, access insights related to their music, and reach Spotify’s global playlists and listeners. Spotify also hosted workshops, mentoring programs and mass outreach enabling thousands of creators to make and distribute their podcasts. Since the day of launch, the number of Indian artists on Spotify have increased by 13 times, while podcasts created on Anchor grew 130 times from the start of 2020 till the end of last year. Through successful partnerships with the artist community, a growing catalogue, and marketing campaigns, Spotify ended last year as the one of the top audio streaming platforms where listeners were consuming music in the country.
- Enabling visibility and growth of local creators on the global stage: Spotify invested in four initiatives to make this happen. First, it brought its global music-centric programs to put the spotlight on women in audio through EQUAL, on independent artists through RADAR and Fresh Finds, and Spotify Singles, giving talent increased visibility across countries. Artists such as Abhilasha Sinha, F16s, When Chai Met Toast, and Sunflower Tape Machine are just a few of the many success stories. Owing to Spotify Singles, two artists, Dhee and Hanita Bhambri, found new fans across the world. Second, Spotify took local films such as Atrangi Re and RRR, as well as artists such as Ilaiyaraaja to Times Square in New York to reach the diaspora audiences. In fact, the platform’s campaign to promote the maestro’s music in India and beyond led to a 3x increase in streams and double the listeners for him on Spotify. Third, Punjabi artists such as Sidhu Moosewala, AP Dhillon, Sunanda Sharma, Harnoor, Harrdy Sandhu, and Diljit Dosanjh, among others, who also have fans outside of India, featured in international Spotify campaigns. Finally, Spotify’s Sound Up that aims to raise up the next generation of under-represented podcasters through workshops and support, honed the skills of local women podcasters, with two finalists, Arunima Tenzin Tara and Shreya Dasgupta among others now working towards launching their own podcasts.
- Providing a platform where culture happens: Right from launch, Spotify has delivered a localised experience for its listeners in the country. There are 7x more locally curated playlists on Spotify today, compared to three years ago. Through film partnerships such the recent ones being Shershaah, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui and Gehraiyaan, steady support to the independent music community, and investment across genres of regional podcasts, the platform reflects India’s pop culture, making a place for itself in the hearts of millions of listeners locally. Besides film and I-Pop music, the platform has taken independent artists to the global stage. Over 50 independent artists from India have also crossed over to global Spotify playlists multiple times, including .ORG and Borderless, among others. Through Fresh Finds, Spotify has curated more than 700 emerging artists in the first year of its launch in India. This growth is not only on the creators’ side, but also vis-a-vis listeners, wherein more than 150,000 playlists are being created by Spotify listeners in India every single day. This puts India in the top 20 markets for user created playlists on the platform. Additionally, millions of shares are happening every month via social media. Meanwhile, given the growing popularity of local content, Spotify now has 150+ Spotify Original and Exclusive podcasts spanning Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, Telugu, Punjabi, English, Gujarati, Malayalam, and Marathi. On Anchor, content is now being created in over 13 Indian languages.
Amarjit Batra, Managing Director – India, Spotify, said “Spotify continues to be deeply invested in India. We’ve seen remarkable growth and love from listeners since our launch, and especially over the last year. In parallel, we want creators to thrive on Spotify, and our platform and initiatives are designed with that purpose in mind. By collaborating closely with the creator community in India, we’ve been able to grow awareness and preference for audio streaming. Looking ahead, we hope that our listeners here continue to connect with self and others through the content and curation on Spotify and discover music, podcasts, and features that make their experience intuitive and personalised.”
Over three years, Spotify has worked with over 100 brands across sectors such as FMCG, OTT, e-commerce, etc.that chose the audio streaming platform to reach their audience. Besides growing the market for the overall audio streaming industry that largely relies on the free tier in India, Spotify is also investing in making Premium more accessible for listeners in India through a variety of plans, including Mini, and brand partnerships. In the last two years, the company also partnered with brands such as OnePlus, Visa, Samsung, Flipkart, and Vivo to reach a wider audience in the market.
As a country with one of the youngest populations in the world, India is a thriving base for creative talent in the audio industry. Spotify will continue to educate creators on using the platform to their advantage and growing with it not just in India, but outside. For listeners, the focus will be on sustained product localisation, marketing campaigns, and relevant partnerships that deepen the audio streaming platform’s reach in the country, across age cohorts, communities, and by bringing the best of global and local content to their ears.