The music economy creator – The rise of music publishing in India

Each year, 20,000 to 25,000 original songs are made by over 40,000 music creators in India (this excludes remixes and music by the unorganized sector). Music is integral to streaming, films, television, radio, gaming, and social media. It helps generate over INR12,000 crore of revenue in India, which is around 6% of the Media and Entertainment industry Indian songs are amongst the most popular in the world - they hold seven spots on the Top Ten YouTube Global Charts for 2022. In addition, they are the most streamed artists on YouTube in seven of our neighbouring countries, a testimony to the soft power of Indian content India’s music business is primarily governed by the Copyright Act. However, divergent court decisions have resulted in differing viewpoints on its applicability and/ or its quantum, resulting in a market which has little awareness thus a low compliance.

Of the INR12,000 crore (US$1.5 billion) generated by music, recorded music revenues of labels have crossed INR2,500 crore (US$312 million) in 2022, while music publishing revenues will approximate INR884 crore (US$100 million) in 2022-23. However, India’s global revenue ranking is far behind other developed markets.

Our survey, in which 500 creators participated, indicated that their financial income is unpredictable and often limited:  

• 87% of respondents would have liked to make a living off their music alone, but only 60% were able to do so.
• Working outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship, one-time payments (upfront fees) and live performances were the primary sources of income for most creators.
• A majority strongly believed that they needed to learn more about music production and monetization.
• Only 56% of respondents had access to the equipment and infrastructure needed to produce music; while 35% of respondents reinvested more than 50% of their earnings from music on equipment, gear, software, and other infrastructure required to create music.

There is a need to enhance music education capabilities in India, where it is currently unorganized and not standardized. Considering the on-call (gig employment) nature of the music industry, some countries have implemented special schemes to ensure the social security of artists. Indian authors currently have no separate social security net. However, due to lack of awareness, only 13,500 creators have registered with the IPRS from a potential base of 60,000+.