The Indian Music Industry (IMI), the organisation that represents the recorded music industry in India has released the Digital Music Study 2021. The report – prepared in collaboration with International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) – chronicles how music was a savior during COVID-19. The report is dedicated to the front-line workers of India.
In his foreword Blaise Fernandes, President and CEO of the IMI, said, “In India music consumption increased to 21.9 hours per week for the period 2019 to 2021. From the age group of 25 to 64 the average increased time spent on listening to music was 3 hours per week.”
David Price, Director of Insight and Analysis of the IFPI, wrote, “By the time of this study, nearly one in every five hours of music engagement in India (19.1%) took place on short form video apps, almost as high as the amount of music consumed on YouTube.”
Furthermore, social media has become the most-cited source of music discovery across India. One of the most common ways in which platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat were used was to enable Indians to find and share music.
A few highlights
- Short Form Video Apps (SFVA) consumption grew a staggering 269.4% between 2019 and 2021. Plus, the SFVA consumption in India is higher than the global average across all age groups.
- Video streaming accounted for 50% of all hours spent listening to on demand streaming services but only generated 31% of overall streaming revenues for the recorded music industry.
- In 2021, 75% of respondents listened to music on the radio. Radio broadcast live (chosen by 66% of surveyed respondents) was the most popular format across age groups compared to internet-only radio stations (28%) and catch-up radio services (16%).
- Livestreams also generated further engagement with artists or their music. About 72% of 16 to 24-year-olds followed a livestream by searching for the artist on YouTube. Two-thirds of 16 to 19-year-olds followed the artist on social media after an event. Spotify users were the most likely to favourite an artist on their streaming service after a livestream (53%). Artist-related merchandise was also popular and most likely to be bought by 35 to 44-year-olds (and least likely by 55 to 64-year-olds).
- The highest level of paid streaming use was amongst 35 to 44-year-olds where 78% paid to use a service, an increase of 13.4% from 2019.
- Five out of the top 10 favourite genres were domestic. Bollywood New Age (2000-2020) was the preferred genre of 19% of surveyed respondents, followed by Bollywood coming-of-age (80s, 90s) at 13%. Tamil (7%), Punjabi (6%) and Telugu (6%) were also among the top five preferred languages of music consumed in India.
- The rate of music piracy in India remained considerably higher than the global average. About 68% of all respondents had downloaded pirated music in the previous month, more than double the global average of 30%.
Read the full report here
