India generated 218.3 billion on-demand audio and video music streams during the first half of 2026, making it the world’s third-largest streaming market by volume, according to new data from Luminate presented at the All About Music conference in Mumbai.
The figure represents a 9.2% year-on-year increase according to Luminate’s latest India report, Unlocking the Next Era: Scale, Fandom and Growth in India’s Music Economy. The report also highlights the continuing dominance of Bollywood music, the growth of pop and electronic music, India’s increasing export power and a significant gap between streaming volume and paid subscriptions.
Luminate’s vice president and general manager of international, Adrian Sarosi, presented the findings at the 10th edition of All About Music.
India is now the world’s third-largest streaming market
India recorded 218.3 billion on-demand audio and video streams between January and June 2026, placing it behind only the United States and Mexico.
Luminate says the total was up 9.2% year on year.
There is, however, a discrepancy between Luminate’s latest figure and its published 2025 mid-year data. The previous report recorded 235.5 billion streams for India in the first half of 2025. If the two figures are compared directly, that would indicate a decline rather than the 9.2% increase cited in the new report.
The difference suggests Luminate may have revised its historical data or methodology. The 2026 report’s stated year-on-year growth figure is therefore best treated separately from the previously published 2025 total until Luminate clarifies the adjustment.
Catalogue music accounts for half of India’s streams
One of the clearest findings from the report is the strength of older music in India’s streaming market.
Around 50% of streams in the first half of 2026 came from deep catalogue, defined by Luminate as tracks more than 60 months old.
Current releases accounted for slightly more than 25% of streams, while shallow catalogue, covering music released between 18 and 60 months earlier, represented just under 25%.
The strength of catalogue music is particularly pronounced within Bollywood, where more than 75% of streams came from deep catalogue tracks.
That gives India’s music market a substantial long-tail listening base, with older film songs continuing to attract audiences alongside new releases.
Bollywood remains India’s biggest music genre
Bollywood music accounted for 33.5% of India’s total streams during the first half of 2026, making it the country’s most-streamed genre.
Pop ranked second with a 16.8% share.
The figures show that Bollywood remains central to India’s streaming economy, but the broader market is becoming increasingly diverse. Pop, EDM and other non-film genres are expanding alongside India’s established film music ecosystem.
That diversification is particularly significant for independent and emerging artists looking to build audiences outside the traditional film industry.
Indian music is reaching more listeners overseas
India ranked No. 13 in Luminate’s Export Power rankings in 2026, improving from No. 15 in 2025.
The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman were the three biggest importing markets for Indian music, reflecting the significant Indian diaspora across the Gulf.
Outside India, Bollywood music recorded its strongest streaming growth in the United States, UAE, Indonesia, the UK and Australia.
The international figures underline the importance of both diaspora audiences and listeners discovering Indian music without a direct connection to the country.
Anirudh Ravichander leads India’s exported artists
Tamil and Telugu film composer and producer Anirudh Ravichander was identified as India’s most imported artist in Luminate’s data.
He appeared among the top 100 artists in eight countries: Bahrain, Canada, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Singapore and the UAE.
Other Indian artists, including Arijit Singh and Sai Abhyankkar, are also building audiences across international markets, particularly in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
For Indian artists, overseas streaming is becoming an increasingly important part of the route from domestic popularity to international recognition.
80% of India’s streams are ad-supported
India’s enormous streaming volume does not translate directly into subscription revenue.
Luminate found that 80% of India’s streams in the first half of 2026 came from ad-supported services.
Despite the high proportion of free listening, India had the second-highest share of premium streams in the APAC region at 18.4%, behind Japan’s 31.1%.
The figures point to a market with enormous listening scale but considerable room for growth in paid music subscriptions.
Premium listeners have different tastes
Luminate’s data suggests that paying subscribers are not simply heavier versions of the average Indian music listener.
Premium users were 46% more likely than the average Indian listener to be fans of opera, 37% more likely to be fans of US rock and 31% more likely to be fans of J-pop.
That creates opportunities for streaming services and rights holders targeting niche audiences with paid products and specialist content.
Festivalgoers are among the most likely to pay
Luminate’s survey also examined which groups were most likely to subscribe to a paid music service within the following six months.
Music festival attendees led the group, with 67% saying they were likely to pay for a subscription.
They were followed by musicians at 42%, physical music buyers at 41%, Latin music fans at 27% and gamers at 15%.
The findings suggest that India’s live music audience and its community of music creators could be particularly valuable audiences for subscription services.
India’s streaming scale is not the whole story
Luminate’s data paints a picture of a market with extraordinary consumption but a less developed monetisation model.
India’s 218.3 billion streams put it firmly among the world’s largest music markets by volume, while the 80% share of ad-supported plays highlights the challenge of converting that audience into higher-value revenue.
At the same time, the strength of catalogue music, the continued dominance of Bollywood and the growth of pop, EDM and regional music give artists and rights holders multiple routes to build audiences.
India’s increasing export power adds another dimension. As artists such as Anirudh Ravichander and Arijit Singh reach more listeners across the Gulf, Southeast Asia and Western markets, Indian music is increasingly becoming an international streaming story rather than a market driven solely by domestic consumption.
