The Indian Music Charts Podcast

Anuv Jain’s "Husn" is officially at #1 on Spotify's daily Top Songs India chart, making it his first release to reach the pole position and a landmark moment for independent music (though the single is distributed through Universal Music). We couldn’t think of a better time to revisit the conversation with Aayushmaan Sinha, the founder of Represent, which manages Anuv, to break down the singer/songwriter’s streaming success. Through a combination of community building and a sharp focus on measuring metrics that matter in the long run, this analysis of Anuv’s success is a masterclass in how artists can build a fandom. 

In this week's episode, we step away from our usual programming to discuss a topic that isn't directly related to but is intrinsically connected to the charts - the state of the music industry, both worldwide and within India. We highlight data from two recently released publications, Luminate's Year-End Music Report for 2023, which has some eye-popping figures, and EY India's The Music Creator Economy, which includes the results of a survey of 500 musicians. They tell us that listeners are streaming more music than ever before, and also that the average artist might be making less money from their releases than ever before. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on January 12, 2024. PS: Keep you pen and paper/note taking app handy. There will be a LOT of data.

On our first episode of the new year, we gaze into our metaphorical crystal balls to make five predictions for the upcoming months, including which independent artist we think could have a King-sized career; whether the resurgence of Bollywood music will be even stronger; and what Indian regional languages will garner more listenership. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on January 5, 2024. Our favorite music festival Control ALT Delete is back and taking place this weekend! You can 'pay what you want' and attend the festival (but we hope that you pay generously, all profits are split equally amongst the performing artists). Contribute here: https://www.skillboxes.com/events/control-alt-delete

We take our annual deep dive into the most-streamed tracks of the year and discuss the genres, artists, languages and labels that dominated the charts.

On this week’s episode, our guest Aayushman Sinha, the founder of music-centric entertainment and management company Represent, helps us break down the massive streaming success of the most popular artist on his roster, singer-songwriter Anuv Jain whose new track "Husn" has debuted on the charts within just a week of release. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on December 8, 2023.

This was the year Bollywood music finally bounced back in a way with several box-office smashes, many of which spawned top ten tunes. On this week's episode, we discuss how and why even though the number of chart successes from Hindi films increased, the soundtracks as a whole generated fewer hits. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on December 1, 2023.

On this week’s episode, we talk about how Diljit Dosanjh and Sia’s track “Hass Hass”, which has broken into the top five, stands out among similar collaborations between Indian and international  acts. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on November 24, 2023. --------------------------- Link to the Hivewire episode mentioned in the episode here : https://bit.ly/47BF5Kf --------------------------- Check out Women of Music India, a women-ed community emerging from the Indian music industry. Become a member today : https://www.womenofmusicindia.com/

In the week that went by, the 2024 Grammy nominations were announced so we thought it would be timely to revisit a conversation from February 2023 in which we discuss the Grammys, why Indian artists aspire to win them and if such awards continue to hold the relevance they once did. PS: If you are listening on Spotify, we have a poll about just this. If we get some interesting answers, we will share them during next week’s episode. We will be back from Diwali break next week, until then, happy listening!

On this week's episode, we analyse the recent chart dominance of Tamil film composer and singer Anirudh Ravichander, with special guest, music journalist Lalitha Suhasini. We talk about how Anirudh's songs for Leo mark an artistic evolution and discuss why he's been able to become one of the most successful music directors of his generation. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on November 3, 2023.

On this week's episode, we break down the success of "Khalasi", the breakout hit from Coke Studio Bharat, the new avatar of Coke Studio India. We discuss the reasons why the track has performed better than others from the season, and what the tune's recent virality could mean for the future of the series. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on October 27, 2023.

During the past week, when the Bombay High Court rejected a plea for the ban on artists from Pakistan performing in India, a track by a new trio from the neighbouring country rose up the charts. The events inspired this week's episode in which we make the case for cross-border collaborations and elaborate how both nations can benefit greatly from them. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on October 20, 2023.

We are on a mid-season break and will be back on 24th October 2023! Until then, we're revisiting a segment of our first live podcast recording, which took place at the All About Music conference last month. Here, Bhavya Anand, co-founder of Bluprint, the artist development agency that represents rapper-singer King; singer Asses Kaur; and Padmanabhan 'Paddy' NS, the head of  artist and label partnerships at Spotify India, discuss with us the difference between a trend and a hit.

Contrary to what musicians are often told, there is a formula to follow that can increase the song's chances of becoming a hit and on this week's episode, we have a special guest whose current smash is proof of this. We speak to rising composer Denny about the success of his top 20 single "Chale Jaana Phir (Humko Tere Bina)" and how his meticulous approach to composing, audience research and marketing have resulted in the biggest streams of his career. He also shares some invaluable advice for upcoming artists, while we, as always, look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the week ending October 5, 2023.

On this week's episode, we talk about why the number of hits in non-Indian languages has halved over the last year. We discuss how international tracks are breaking through in India today, what music exporters need to do to cross over here, and why the charts may not always adequately reflect a foreign act's domestic popularity, while looking at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart published on September 29, 2023. -------- Here is the link to the Hivewire article mentioned in this week's episode. Hivewire is an independent music industry publication launched in June 2023 by Srishti Das. This dynamic newsletter offers a unique perspective on the music industry, focusing on emerging markets: https://www.hivewire.club/hivewire-07-winning-in-emerging-markets-requires-a-shift-from-surface-level-localisation-to-meaningful-localisation/

On this week's episode, we pose a somewhat controversial question inspired by a big climber on the charts. We discuss whether musicians and industry professionals expend undue time and effort on getting their songs on editorial playlists, with Arjun Shah, the founder of talent management company Shark & Ink. Shah's enterprise represents Suzonn, a singer/songwriter whose track "Farq Hai" has seen a recent surge in streams, only a tiny percentage of which are attributed to editorial placements. He tells us how the 2020 single finally broke through, the best practices artists should follow to help their new releases gain traction, and what led "Farq Hai" to climb a massive 70 positions on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart published on September 22, 2023.

On this week's episode, we talk about key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart published on September 15, 2023 on which "Chaleya" from 'Jawan' broke the record for the most plays in a week on the platform within the country. We discuss how the time span between all-time streaming records being broken is decreasing, the factors that are contributing to these massive numbers and whether a particular kind of song is hitting these high marks.

This week, we present a special episode that was recorded live at the All About Music conference in Mumbai this past weekend. We begin the show with a look at the contribution of different labels, languages and genres to the tracks to have reached the top ten of the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart over the last eight months, and then discuss the difference between a trend and a hit, the importance of artist' fandoms, and how the very definition of a hit can vary, with our guests, singer and chart topper Asses Kaur; the head of  artist and label partnerships at Spotify India, Padmanabhan 'Paddy' NS; and the co-founder of artist development agency Bluprint, Bhavya Anand. We would like to thank our friends and partners who helped us bring this to life: Chandni Soni, Ashish Jose aka Tarqeeb, Roydon Bangera, Nikhil Udupa, Savio Fialho, Krishna Ahuja, Luxman Gupta. PS: We mention some stats and graphs in the start of the episode. You can see them here: bit.ly/3PxMbce

On this week's episode, we talk about key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart published on September 1, 2023 and whether music videos are as essential for a song's success as they were in the past. We discuss how eyeballs are increasingly shifting toward short format content and why the importance of an MV varies from genre to genre. PS: We will be at All About Music on 9th September hosting a live session about 'Where do hits come from in 2023?'. The session is scheduled for 2:15 PM at Ballroom 3 @ The Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. The event is sold out so if you already got your passes, we will see you there!

On this week's episode, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart published on August 25 and talk about an artist making a huge leap into the top three. We discuss how the release of AP Dhillon's Amazon Prime documentary series First of A Kind has propelled streams of not only his back catalogue but also his newest release, which has become his first top ten of 2023. The Indian Music Charts Podcast is going to be live at All About Music 2023! All About Music takes place between 7 -9 th September at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. Know more and get tickets: https://allaboutmusic.in/

After last week's Independence Day special, we return to regular programming with a look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart. We talk about the accomplishment of a significant chart milestone on the survey published on August 18, 2023, when "Hukum" from Rajinikanth starrer 'Jailer' became the first south Indian-language track to hit #1. We discuss the factors that led to this moment, why composer and singer Anirudh Ravichander was poised to be the musician to achieve this, and why the song's rise to the summit was somewhat unique. Also, we have an announcement: The Indian Music Charts Podcast is going to be live at All About Music 2023! All About Music takes place between 7 -9 th September at Grand Hyatt, Mumbai. Know more and get tickets: https://allaboutmusic.in/