Music Streaming Monetisation Lags Despite 96% Smartphone Engagement
- 1India had just 14 million paid music subscriptions by December 2025, despite 96% of smartphone users actively listening to music, according to a new EY-IMI study.
- 2The report, based on 15,000+ smartphone users, projects paid subscribers could reach 28-30 million by 2028 through product innovation and strategic partnerships.
- 3While 86% of respondents have paid for video OTT services, only 38% have ever subscribed to music streaming platforms, revealing a stark monetisation gap.
- 4Four out of five music listeners spend over an hour daily consuming audio content, indicating exceptionally high engagement levels.
- 5The findings underscore a fundamental challenge for music streaming platforms in converting India's massive listener base into paying customers.
EY-IMI report reveals critical revenue gap as paid subscriptions reach only 14 million users by December 2025.
India's music streaming industry faces a critical monetisation paradox. Despite near-universal engagement—with 96% of smartphone users actively consuming music—paid subscriptions stood at merely 14 million as of December 2025, according to the latest research from EY and the Indian Music Industry (IMI). The comprehensive study, titled 'How India listens, streams and pays for music', surveyed over 15,000 smartphone users and exposes a fundamental disconnect between consumption patterns and revenue generation that demands immediate strategic attention from brand marketers and platform operators.
The Engagement-Revenue Paradox
The data paints a picture of exceptional engagement without corresponding monetisation. Four out of five music listeners in India spend more than one hour daily consuming audio content—a level of daily habit formation that would be enviable in virtually any other content category. Yet this sustained, high-frequency engagement has failed to translate into subscription revenue at scale. The contrast with video OTT platforms is particularly telling: 86% of survey respondents reported having paid for video streaming services at some point, compared to just 38% who had ever subscribed to music platforms, including bundled offerings. This 48-percentage-point gap represents not just a market failure, but a strategic opportunity for platforms that can crack the willingness-to-pay code.
Growth Trajectory and Market Projections
Despite current underpenetration, the EY-IMI report projects optimism for subscriber growth, forecasting that paid music subscriptions could double to 28-30 million by 2028. This anticipated growth—approximately 100% over three years from the December 2025 baseline—hinges on three critical enablers: product innovation, strategic partnerships, and evolving consumer preferences. For marketing strategists, this projection suggests an inflection point approaching in 2026-2027, when successful platforms will likely differentiate through value bundling, localised content curation, and payment innovation tailored to Indian consumer sensibilities.
Short-Form Video: The New Discovery Frontier
The research underscores a fundamental shift in music discovery patterns, with short-form video and social media platforms increasingly serving as the primary touchpoints where Indian consumers encounter new music. This migration of discovery away from dedicated music platforms creates both threat and opportunity. For music streaming services, it necessitates rethinking acquisition funnels and potentially embedding discovery experiences directly within social environments. For brand marketers, it validates the strategic importance of music integration in short-form video campaigns, particularly on platforms like Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and similar environments where audio-visual synergy drives engagement.
The Bundling Question
The inclusion of bundled subscriptions within the 38% figure for paid music adoption raises important questions about standalone value perception. As telecom operators, payment platforms, and e-commerce giants increasingly use music streaming as a bundling sweetener rather than a standalone purchase decision, the industry faces a critical identity question: Can music streaming command direct payment, or will it remain primarily a value-add? This has profound implications for brand positioning, pricing architecture, and partnership strategies through 2028.
The monetisation gap revealed by this research reflects a deeper strategic misalignment between platform value propositions and Indian consumer psychology. While music clearly commands attention—with daily hour-plus engagement from 80% of listeners—it has yet to command willingness to pay at comparable rates to video content. This suggests that music streaming platforms may be competing in the wrong category mentally. Rather than positioning as entertainment subscriptions (where they lose to video OTT), successful platforms may need to reframe music as essential utility, productivity enabler, or identity expression—categories where Indians demonstrate stronger payment intent.
The projected doubling of subscribers by 2028 appears achievable but not inevitable. It will require fundamental innovation in three areas: pricing models that acknowledge India's price sensitivity while creating perceived premiumness; content strategies that move beyond Bollywood-centric catalogues to embrace regional, independent, and micro-genre content that justifies subscription; and distribution partnerships that meet consumers in their existing payment journeys rather than creating new friction points. The platforms that crack vernacular personalisation, family sharing economics, and social listening features will likely capture disproportionate share of the growth cohort entering the paid ecosystem between July 2026 and December 2028.
For brands and agencies, this data validates a dual-track music strategy: leverage short-form video and social platforms for discovery-phase brand building while exploring strategic partnerships with music streaming platforms to capture intent-phase consumers. The 14 million paid subscribers represent a highly engaged, premium audience segment willing to pay for content—a valuable targeting cohort for brands seeking quality over scale. Simultaneously, the 82% of music lovers who haven't subscribed represent a massive addressable market for brands that can integrate music authentically into ad-supported experiences. The monetisation gap is a market inefficiency that smart marketers can exploit through creative audio branding, social music activations, and platform-specific content strategies that align with how Indians actually discover and consume music in July 2026.
This article is an editorial rewrite based on reporting originally published by ANI (Asian News International). The original article has been rewritten and contextualised for India's marketing community by The Wise Marketing Desk using AI-assisted editorial tools.
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