Music Streaming Apps Are Creating And Curating Content To Suit Regional Tastes

As music streaming apps catch on in India, they are creating and curating content to suit regional tastes.

- Pranit Sarda

A decade or so ago, streaming music over the internet in India was left to the mercy of slow data connections. Listeners also remained bound to their desktop computers or laptops, as they created and listened to their favourite playlists. But now, thanks to the ubiquitous smartphone, and data connection speeds that have finally caught up with demand, streaming music has become a seamless and stress-free activity.

What has helped, along the way, is the emergence of homegrown streaming apps and platforms that offer a wide variety of music, ranging from regional Indian pop and Bollywood, to Western classical and K-Pop. The dominant position that digital platforms have come to occupy can be gauged from the fact that that 78 percent of revenues for the recorded music industry in India now come from digital distribution, according to a 2019 IFPI Global Music Report.

“Everything has changed in music,” says Rishi Malhotra, the New York-based co-founder and CEO of JioSaavn. “Albums have shifted to singles. Annual releases have shifted to quarterly drops. Playlists placements are coveted. Listening on repeat is essential to lead the charts. Songs are shorter. Access is ubiquitous. Data is being applied to everything: From platform features to UI placement to projects being greenlit.”

An August 2019 KPMG report on India’s media and entertainment industries says that monthly active users (MAUs) on music streaming platforms have increased by 50 percent, from 110 million in March 2018 to 165 million in March 2019. The music streaming industry is likely to continue growing by 20 percent between FY19 and FY24.