To celebrate its first year making AI-powered playlists for India’s music lovers, Spotify has shared some pretty interesting FYIs. India has a higher-than-average percentage of users of upto 24 years of age, compared to other Spotify markets. In fact, since its launch on February 26 2019, Spotify has been streamed in nearly 2,300 cities in the country.
According to the streaming platform, while Generation Z and millennials drive the most streams on popular music genres — such as film music, international pop, and Punjabi non-film music — it is the 35 to 44 year-old users who mostly listen to local music rather than international tunes. However, in Assam, it’s Punjabi.
The last 12 months proved that romance is still a ‘whole mood’. India’s ‘mushiest’ states include West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, Bihar, and Sikkim, where Bollywood Mush features in the top three playlists. Among the top musicians streamed are Arijit Singh, Tanish Bagchi, Neha Kakkar, Badshah and Shreya Ghoshal.
- Spotify’s Global Q3 2019 revealed there were 248 million MAU (monthly active users) — up 7% on the 232 million from the previous quarter.
Language diversity preferences remain an important part of Spotify’s nascent years in India. In Goa, across age groups, Spotify users only listen to international music.
Who does not love K-pop? Interestingly, women aged 55 and above in Telangana, top tracks included EXO’s tracks, while their West Bengal counterparts’ top tracks featured BLACKPINK’s track ‘Kill This Love.’ There is also a strong preference for K-pop music in Arunachal, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. A love for K-pop emerged in Ahmedabad and Jaipur, too.
The podcast market is also a favourite of Spotify’s; originals launched in November last year and the top five include ‘22 Yarns With Gaurav Kapur’, ‘Bhaskar Bose’, and ‘Love Aaj Kal with Aastha & Ankit’, feature in the top five original podcast charts.
Despite this success, the international library is missing a few major artistes, such as My Chemical Romance, Twenty-One Pilots, Fetty Wap and David Guetta. In January, Spotify made a move to end a year-long dispute with Warner Music’s publishing firm, explaining they have inked a global licensing agreement with Warner Chappell. This is the start to a very long move to globalise the existing library. Here is to crossing our fingers for a stronger second year.
With data inputs from Spotify
