India’s music industry is bracing for potential disruptions as proposed content regulations threaten to delay releases, stifle artistic freedom, and add financial strain.
With YouTube’s India’s Got Latent controversy heightening concerns over government oversight, musicians and industry executives warn that compliance burdens could slow growth in one of the world’s fastest-expanding streaming markets.
Nearly three-fourths (72%) of Indian musicians say new compliance rules could disrupt output and delay releases. Another 77% fear the regulations will hinder global collaborations, while 82% believe measures such as pre-release scrutiny and adherence to prescribed standards would stifle musical diversity and creativity.
These findings come from a study by The Dialogue, a public policy think tank, titled Tuning into Change: Empirical Insights into India’s Evolving Music Industry, based on surveys with 1,200 Indian artists.
Also read: Coldplay’s Magic: Why Gen Z is hooked on a millennial band’s nostalgia tour
Muted by rules?
“The concern among music artistes is that any new pre-release content regulation could limit diversity of music offerings, add to financial strain, and restrict access to international markets and collaborations,” Kazim Rizvi, founder, The Dialogue, told Mint in an interview.
They worry that regulations akin to those enforced by the Content Evaluation Committee (CEC) under the proposed Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill—mandating broadcasters to certify their programs—could threaten creative freedom and escalate financial burdens.
If pre-release scrutiny were mandated for music streamed online, 80% of artists predict that compliance costs would strain their budgets. Additionally, 75% of musicians fear that such pre-release content reviews would add to operational complexity.
Also read: India to add 730 FM stations. So why is the music industry sulking?
Further, the study points to the strategic interventions that can fuel industry expansion: 51% of musicians emphasise the need to lower entry barriers and facilitate wider access to streaming platforms, while 48% highlight infrastructure gaps in India’s live music ecosystem, signalling an opportunity for investment in performance spaces and technical enablers.
With 46 crore daily streams and industry revenues projected at ₹3,700 crore by 2026, India stands as the second largest music streaming market today, second to the US.
The Indian market constitutes 14% of the total global audio and video streams. Yet, regulatory uncertainties, piracy, and infrastructure gaps may thwart this growth, the study added.
Also read: Poor concert infrastructure bugs artistes, audiences amid growing popularity
The survey captured responses from musicians across regional, classical, folk, indie, hip-hop, and contemporary genres. It included musicians who create content in Hindi (69%), English (64%), and various regional languages (15%).
