The Indian music industry is witnessing a significant shift, with the paid subscription count soaring as certain platforms have stopped backing ad-supported music consumption. The paid subscriber count increased from 7 million in 2023 to around 10.5 million in 2024, a FICCI report said.
Recounting the old days, Tips Music Chariman and Managing Director Kumar Taurani said that when mobile companies started a ‘Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT)’ service in 2006, it drew the interest of people from cities to villages. The CRBT service, which still exists today, allows callers to purchase a 30-second caller tune that is heard by the recipient. Taurani said that mobile companies earned around Rs 5,000 crore from subscriptions and Rs 3,000 from downloads at that time.
“There is a huge subscription market even in tier-3 cities and beyond,” he added. “Global companies such as YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music have understood India’s love for music and have therefore created strategies to push users towards subscription modes”. Taurani mentioned that 10% of Tips Music’s top line comes from subscriptions.
Notably, Spotify India’s subscription revenue was up by 90% and ad revenue rose by 114% for fiscal year 2024 (FY24).
In 2024, streaming comprised 69% of total recorded music revenues globally. Subscription streaming rose 9.5%, while ad-supported streaming grew 1.2% in 2024. India recorded the highest digital engagement worldwide, with users spending more than 1.1 trillion hours on digital platforms.
While the Indian music industry could be around Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,000 crore at present, Taurani said it has the potential to become a Rs 15,000 crore industry with government support.
Further, talking about the challenges, Taurani told Storyboard18 that brands using music from label companies without permission is a severe violation of the Copyright Act.
“Big brands are evading royalty payments to music label companies and artists for using their popular tracks in branded content on social media,” Taurani said.
Subscription-based digital platforms, such as Hoopr, Epidemic, Soundstripe, Storyblocks, etc offer royalty-free music. “There are over 1 lakh restaurants that should pay royalties to us,” Taurani mentioned.
He said music label companies can take legal actions, and it has been done. However, most of the time, they avoid doing so to maintain long-term relationships with brands. There are many small laws that need to be tightened up by the government to protect the interests of independent artists and music label companies, he said.
In April, Sony Music issued a legal notice to ecommerce platform Myntra, and Marriott Group for copyright infringement.
According to a report, independent artists collectively lose around Rs 9,000 crore in royalties due to copyright music violations by brands annually.
Notwithstanding the challenges, Taurani said the company is focusing on improving its music by prioritizing ‘quality content’ over ‘quantity content’.
“For the last 4-5 years, we added around 700-800 songs per year, but now we have decided that quality is more important than quantity. Henceforth, we project that we will produce only 100- 150 songs and aim to achieve a 40-50% success ratio in that space”.
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Tips Music has a rich song catalog, comprising cult songs from movies like Taal, China Gate, Raja Hindustani, Kismat Konnection, and Rang De Basanti, among others. Primarily, the 37-year-old company collects royalties on its existing hits.
“If you look at our journey over the last 5-6 years, it’s the catalog that has maximally supported us,” Taurani added.
“The repertoire from 1988 to 2022 contributes 85% of the company’s revenue”.
Further, he said that 75% of Tips Music’s top line comes from digital platforms, and 25% from non-digital sources. Among digital platforms, YouTube is the biggest contributor, followed by Spotify, and then Instagram; all other apps combined contribute the rest. The company generates 90% its advertisement revenue from YouTube and Spotify.
In the latest earning call, Tips Music reported a 31% year-on-year increase in FY2025. And, in the past five years, Tips Music’s profit has jumped from Rs 43.5 crore in FY21 to Rs 166.6 crore in FY25–an increase of 283%.
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Taurani expressed confidence in the growth of the company despite challenges related to music piracy, Artificial Intelligence, and the rise of Gen Z and Gen Alpha cohorts.
“When we launched Ishq Vish in 2004, its poster mentioned ‘Generation Next,’ Taurani said that the company has no specific age group as its target and emphasized that Tips Music is for all generations. “I want a 10-year-old kid to a 70-year-old man to listen to Tips Music”.
“I am sure that if Gen Z listens to ‘Nahi Saamne’ from Taal or ‘Is this Love’ from Kismat Konnection, they will appreciate the kind of music we have produced”.