Music royalty kitty crosses Rs 700 crore in 2024 on boost from streaming

Mumbai: Music royalty collections in India crossed ₹700 crore in 2024, rising 42% year-on-year and growing more than fourfold over the past five years, driven largely by growing revenues from streaming platforms, an industry report has said.

The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), in its latest annual report, said India’s global ranking in creators’ collections improved to 23 in 2023 from 37 in 2019, reflecting the consistent growth of the country’s creative economy.

Despite the impressive growth, royalty collections in the country remain well below their potential for a market of this size due to low adoption of paid or premium music streaming services, the report noted.

It is pertinent to note that music streaming platforms such as Spotify, JioSaavn and Gaana have started shifting to paid or subscription-driven models from a largely ad-driven model, with support from leading music labels like Saregama.

The report also pointed to the underperformance of non-digital revenue streams as a concern for creators. CISAC has been working with the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) to ensure global standards in areas such as governance, licensing, and royalty distribution. In FY25, CISAC and IPRS developed a new action plan to explore market potential, identify business opportunities, and set out the necessary support, priorities, and milestones.

The plan is intended to support long-term growth and improve India’s position in the global music royalty market. It focuses on increasing collections from local digital services and broadening the sources of royalty payments.