Indian Pop and Hip-Hop Overtakes Film Music Spotify Streams Abroad

Indian music is going global — and it’s bigger than just Bollywood.

For the longest time, when people outside India thought of Indian music, they thought of Bollywood. Big, emotional songs, high-energy dance tracks, and melodies that instantly transported you to a movie scene. Bollywood music wasn’t just a soundtrack, it was India’s biggest musical export, played at weddings, house parties, and cafes around the world.

While that’s still true, something new is happening.

For the first time ever, Indian artists outside of the film soundtrack space are leading global streams. Spotify data shows that over 65 percent of India’s most exported songs from the top 30 in 2024 didn’t come from Bollywood. Instead, they came from hip-hop, indie music and regional artists who are finding their international audiences.

This is a big shift. Bollywood music has always had a global presence, but now it’s sharing space with independent artists making music on their own terms. Tracks like “Big Dawgs” by Hanumankind and Kalmi, “Winning Speech” by Karan Aujla, and “Ishq” by Faheem Abdullah, Amir Ameer and Rauhan Malik aren’t tied to films, yet they’re playing in cafes in Toronto, blasting from speakers in Dubai, and making it onto radio stations in London.

Punjabi music, in particular, has broken barriers. Artists like Diljit Dosanjh, Karan Aujla, Sidhu Moose Wala and AP Dhillon are some of the most-streamed Indian musicians outside India. Their music isn’t just popular among the South Asian diaspora but is also being played in clubs, on road trips, and in playlists worldwide.

Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam artists are also gaining global listeners. Tamil songs like pop artist Sai Abhyankkar‘s “Katchi Sera” and “Aasa Kooda” are trending in Malaysia and Sri Lanka, Malayalam tracks are picking up in the United Arab Emirates and Telugu music is growing in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. For years, Hindi dominated Indian music exports, but now, different languages and sounds are making their way across borders.

That doesn’t mean Bollywood is fading — it’s evolving. Pop duo Mitraz’s “Akhiyaan” from 2022, for example, was re-released as “Akhiyaan Gulaab” for the 2024 film Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya and it claims the second spot behind “Big Dawgs” among most exported songs from India in 2024. Classics like the Akon-led “Chammak Challo” featuring vocalist Hamsika Iyer for Ra.One (2011) and Mithoon and Arijit Singh’s “Tum Hi Ho” from Aashiqui 2 (2013) still pull in millions of streams, and new Bollywood hits continue to be loved worldwide. But now, Bollywood isn’t the only way Indian music reaches global ears.

This shift means that independent artists have a real shot at building international careers. It means someone from Chennai, Delhi, or Punjab can create music that resonates beyond India, without needing a film or a label to push them forward.

Indian music is growing, changing, and reaching more people than ever before. And this is just the beginning.