Five Years of Spotify in India: A Look Back at Our Greatest Hits

February marked Spotify’s fifth year in India, and since our debut, we’ve focused on lifting up the country’s creator community, localizing content for users, and making streaming the default way for listeners to discover and consume audio.

By regionally tailoring our platform features, Premium plans, playlist curation, brand campaigns, and on-ground experiences, Spotify has grown to become the most-loved streaming audio platform in India, especially among Gen Z and millennials.

Spotify has also deeply invested in educating the artist community on how to make the most of Spotify For Artists, a platform that empowers artists and their management to analyze how their music is consumed around the world. Today, more than 28,000 artists in India use Spotify For Artists, which is more than double compared to a year ago. Listening habits in India have also shifted, going from fans streaming nearly 70% international music on Spotify five years ago, to streaming more than 70% local music today. And in 2023 alone, the global consumption of music from India grew by 85% year-over-year. 

Let’s take a closer look at how Indian music has grown with Spotify over the last five years:

Spotify is the destination for podcasts in India

Spotify has also deeply invested in the podcast industry. Through Spotify Podcasters’ Day and regional creator support programs, podcasters learned about the ease of making their own podcasts on Spotify For Podcasters. As a result, more than 200,000 podcasts were created using the platform in 2023 while podcast listening in India increased significantly across several genres, including history,education, mythology, and true crime.

• Four of the top 10 podcasts on Spotify in India were of the mythology / spirituality genre in 2023, including the most-streamed podcast of the year. Altogether, the genre grew by more than 80% through the year.  

In 2024 and beyond, Spotify in India will remain focused on supporting artists locally and globally—especially in the worlds of film and artist-first, Indian pop music fandom—while enabling podcasters to find the best ways to more effectively create and monetize content. It will also continue providing the best opportunities for brands to advertise on the platform to music fans and podcast listeners (Spotify Audience Network), launching new features that make Spotify more personalized, and making Premium more accessible and relevant for India.

Looking to discover the hottest songs and artists making waves in India today? Check out our Hot Hits Punjabi playlist below.