MUMBAI: Since its launch in India six years ago, Spotify has brought artists closer to their fans at home, and across the world. It has enabled global listeners to discover artists from India, with consumption of music from local artists skyrocketing by over 2000% in international markets since 2019. 

Multiple genres and languages represented India on Spotify, globally

In 2024, several Indian pop and hip-hop artists contributed to the global growth of music from India, and this reflects in the list of India’s most exported artists on Spotify, including:

1. Arijit Singh
2. Pritam
3. Anirudh Ravichander
4. Karan Aujla
5. Shreya Ghoshal
6. Diljit Dosanjh
7. Hanumankind
8. Kalmi
9. A.R. Rahman
10. Sidhu Moose Wala
11. Amitabh Bhattacharya
12. Vishal-Shekhar
13. AP Dhillon
14. Badshah
15. Alka Yagnik

Artist-first songs make up the majority of most exported music from India

Last year, artists from India saw the positive impact of Spotify’s global reach, with over 65% of the top 30 most exported songs stemming from beyond the film industry. The most exported songs were:

1. Big Dawgs by Hanumankind, Kalmi
2. Akhiyaan Gulaab (From "Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya") by Mitraz
3. Naina (From "Crew") by Badshah, Diljit Dosanjh, Raj Ranjodh
4. Sajni (From "Laapataa Ladies") by Arijit Singh, Prashant Pandey, Ram Sampath
5. Tauba Tauba by Karan Aujla
6. Ishq by Amir Ameer, Faheem Abdullah, Rauhan Malik
7. Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya Title Song (From "Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya") by Asees Kaur, Raghav, Tanishk Bagchi
8. Aasa Kooda by Sai Abhyankkar, Sai Smriti
9. Jagga Jatt by Badshah, Diljit Dosanjh, Ikka, Sez on the Beat
10. Winning Speech by Karan Aujla, Mxrci
11. Ve Haaniyaan by Avvy Sra, Danny, Sagar
12. Katchi Sera by Sai Abhyankkar
13. Pagal by Babbu Maan, Guru Randhawa, Sanjoy
14. Aaj Ki Raat (From "Stree 2") by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Divya Kumar, Madhubanti Bagchi, Sachin-Jigar
15. Millionaire by Yo Yo Honey Singh

Indian languages have seen significant growth in consumption globally

As Indian artists from across the country continue to take their music to the global stage, the consumption of music in Indian languages on Spotify across the world has grown alongside. In 2024, the Indian languages most listened to on Spotify outside of India were Hindi, Punjabi, English, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, and Kannada.

These languages were most consumed in countries such as the USA, Pakistan, Canada (Hindi); UAE, UK, Canada (Malayalam); Canada, Pakistan, UK (Punjabi); Malaysia, UK, Sri Lanka (Tamil); and USA, UK, Canada (Telugu).

Amongst these languages, some of the most-streamed genres include Hindi pop, Hindi hip hop, Punjabi hip hop, Hindi indie, Malayalam hip hop, Punjabi pop, and Tamil pop.

Bollywood nostalgia hits home with listeners on Spotify

Bollywood music continues to be the most streamed Indian genre of music outside the country, on Spotify in 2024, but it isn’t only new films that keep listeners coming back for more. Catalogue music continues to be a favourite, with the most streamed songs being:

1. “Chammak Challo” by Akon, Hamsika Iyer
2. “Apna Bana Le” by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Arijit Singh, Sachin-Jigar
3. “Tum Hi Ho” by Arijit Singh, Mithoon
4. “Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage (From "Kabir Singh")” by Arijit Singh, Mithoon
5. “Kesariya” by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Arijit Singh, Pritam
6. “Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai” by Jaideep Sahni, Roop Kumar Rathod, Salim–Sulaiman
7. “Janiye (from the Netflix Film "Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga")” by Rashmeet Kaur, Vishal Mishra
8. “Tum Se Hi” by Irshad Kamil, Mohit Chauhan, Pritam
9. “Agar Tum Saath Ho (From "Tamasha")” by Alka Yagnik, Arijit Singh
10. “Maula Mere Maula” by Roop Kumar Rathod