‘Indian music is a soft power with potential to woo global audiences’

Mumbai: Indian Pop—or I-Pop—isn't just having a moment but may be on the verge of going global in a big way. That was the big takeaway from a panel on ‘How Music Can Amplify India's Global Identity' on Day Three of the first-ever World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES). Artistes and music industry voices said Indian music is increasingly being seen as a soft power force with real potential to connect with international audiences.
The panel featured singer Amruta Fadnavis, Tips Industries' Kumar Taurani, playback singer Asees Kaur, music industry veteran Ralph Simon, and Spotify India MD Amarjit Batra. The group discussed how music can act as soft power and why Indian pop is well placed to catch the ears and hearts of global listeners.

Backing that up with numbers, Batra shared findings from Spotify's Loud & Clear report, released last March. In 2024 alone, Indian artists were discovered over 11.2 billion times by first-time listeners across the world—a 13% rise from the previous year. "This shows that there is a lot of interest in Indian artistes, even in other countries," he said, adding that even within India, the focus has largely shifted to homegrown music.
Amruta Fadnavis made a strong case for Indian pop's global potential. "The success of K-Pop and J-Pop shows how a country's music can serve as soft power and spark international interest in its culture," she said. "Indian Pop has the same potential," she said pointing to Nattu Nattu and Jai Ho as examples of Indian songs that have already made waves internationally.
Singer Asees Kaur shared how her performance at London's O2 Arena hit home. "The love and energy from the crowd felt just like it does here," she said. "Indians as well as foreigners, you could see everyone connecting with the songs in their own way." Her experience points at a bigger shift. Between 2019 and 2023, streams of Indian artistes in global markets shot up by over 2,000%, according to Spotify.
Ralph Simon, a pioneer of mobile music and fondly known as ‘the father of the ringtone', credited this rise to the distinct voice and rootedness of Indian artistes. He namechecked talents like Hanumankind, Shankar Mahadevan, and Arijit Singh for creating music that stays true to Indian culture while still sounding global. "India is right on the cusp of the golden era of music," he said.