Algo rhythm: India's music industry is riding the wave of digitisation

According to a survey, though India had over 100 million music streamers in 2017, the conversion of free streamers to paid streamers was just one per cent

India's music industry is riding the wave of digitisation, buoyed by growing smartphone penetration and access to low-cost data. 

However, monetisation of music through the digital channel continues to face challenge as seen in other parts of the world. According to a survey by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, though India had over 100 million music streamers in 2017, the conversion of free streamers to paid streamers was just one per cent. 

YouTube, which accounted for 36 per cent of all the hours spent listening to music, generated 29.8 per cent (Rs 1.69 bn) of the Indian music industry’s Rs 8.5 bn streaming revenue, pointing at the fact that there's still some way to go before the gap between time spent and revenue generated is solved.