Spotify says music by Indian artists drew nearly 335 billion streams worldwide in 2025, amounting to more than 20 billion hours of listening. Royalties generated by those artists on the platform rose 29% from 2024, according to the company’s current reporting (Loud & Clear).
The India-specific data was reported by The Times of India (article dated September 2, 2026). It said listeners around the world played an Indian artist they had not heard before 12.8 billion times, a 14% increase from 2024. Spotify also said more than 40% of royalties generated by Indian artists came from listeners outside India.
Regional-language growth widened the picture
Spotify’s reported gains were spread across several languages. Telugu royalties generated on the platform rose more than 120%, while Marathi climbed close to 50%, Bengali about 40%, Malayalam more than 30%, Hindi close to 30% and Tamil 20%.
These figures suggest that Indian music’s streaming growth was not limited to Hindi film hits. They also point to a market in which independent songs and regional catalogues can reach listeners far beyond their home states and language communities. However, the published headline figures do not show how evenly that growth was distributed among artists.
Royalties are not the same as take-home pay
Spotify does not generally pay performers or songwriters a fixed amount each time a track is played. Its Spotify for Artists guide explains the calculation (how Spotify royalties work). Payments are calculated through streamshare, which measures a rightsholder’s share of eligible streams within a market and period.
The money first goes to rightsholders, including labels, distributors, publishers and organizations that collect royalties on creators’ behalf. Those entities then pay artists and songwriters according to their individual agreements. Contract splits, advances, commissions and service fees can affect the amount that ultimately reaches a creator.
A 29% rise in royalties generated therefore means that the relevant royalty pool grew. It does not mean every Indian artist received 29% more money, and stream counts cannot be multiplied by one fixed rate to estimate earnings.
What the figures show, and what they do not
Spotify said it paid more than $11 billion to the global music industry in 2025 (company payout note dated January 28, 2026), up more than 10% from 2024. That provides scale for the India figures, but it remains Spotify’s own account of its economic impact.
Taken together, the figures support a clear conclusion: Indian music found a large and increasingly international audience on Spotify in 2025, with reported royalty growth across major languages. They do not, on their own, establish what individual artists earned or whether the gains were shared broadly. Those questions require royalty statements and contract details beyond the headline data.
