24 September 2019 – IMI, the organisation that represents the recorded music industry in India, today released the Digital Music Study 2019, which examines the ways in which music consumers aged 16 – 64 engage with recorded music in India.
Report highlights:
- Music listening is up. Respondents typically spend 19.1 hours per week listening to music – higher than the global average of 18 hours. This equates to about 2.7 hours – or the equivalent of listening to 54 three-minute songs – daily.
- Most people (80%) identify as ‘loving’ or being ‘fanatical’ about music. Much higher than the global average of 54%.
- Older age groups increasingly embrace audio streaming services. Engagement with audio streaming in India is strong, with 90% of all respondents accessing a music streaming service in the past month – up by about 7% over 2018. The highest rate of growth for engagement is in the 16 – 24-year-old age group, with 97% of that group accessing a music streaming service in the past month (+10% on 2018).
- Copyright infringement remains a challenge for the music ecosystem. 67% of all surveyed used unlicensed methods to listen to or obtain music in the past month, while 63% used illegal stream ripping services – the leading form of music piracy.
Commenting on the findings in the report, Mr Aditya Gupta- Director, Aditya Music, said, “Thanks to cheap data and smartphone penetration Music consumption in India is growing regionally. The growth rate will be higher in the regional segment due to a low smartphone base. The increase in consumption of catalogues of music in languages also serves as a reminder of the diversity of India and reaffirms our belief that regional music is the new champion of India’s soft power.”
Read full report here