Music helped Indian wellbeing during pandemic according to a recently published report from The Indian Music Industry (IMI). The report subtitled ‘Music – A saviour in COVID-19 Times’ highlights the important part music played in supporting people, particularly the young, through the difficult times of the last two years, providing enjoyment and bolstering wellbeing. 92% of survey participants agreed that music helped them with their emotional wellbeing during the pandemic.
Key findings of the report
- Over the past two years, music listening has shifted further to on-demand streaming services. Average weekly music listening time through on-demand streaming services was 10.4 hours compared to 9.7 hours in 2019. Further, music consumed through paid audio streaming increased from 2.4 hours in 2019 to 3.3 hours a week in 2021.
- Favourite music genres were dominated by domestic music, particularly Bollywood, Tamil and Punjabi music. 71% of time spent listening to music was on domestic content in India – this was much higher than the global average of 49%.
- The deluge in domestic short form video applications (SFVA) like Moj and MX TakaTak in India – apps where recorded music plays a vital part – saw a dramatic rise in use with the onset of the pandemic and after TikTok was banned in June 2020. SFVAs were a new source of music engagement for many and in 2021, accounted for nearly one-fifth (19%) of overall music listening time per week. This was second only to YouTube which represented 22% of music listening time.
- Radio was still an important and relevant consumption method across all age groups. Music was the overwhelming reason listeners tuned in to the radio in India and the primary reason why they chose a specific station. Per the study, 84% of survey respondents stated that music was the main appeal of radio. Without music on the radio, listeners would look for music elsewhere, demonstrating the substitutional impact of the radio.
- The digital music piracy rate in India (68%) continued to be higher than the global music piracy rate of 30%. The highest rates of piracy on music listening inclined more towards the 35-64 age group. Stream ripping remained the key music piracy threat across all age groups in India.
Key Indian music industry statistics
- 92% said music helped with their emotional well-being during the pandemic
- 84% said they listened to the radio mainly for the music
- 94% used music streaming services in total
- 42% watched a music livestream in the last 12 months
- 65% of 16-24s discovered new music at least once a week
- 21% used Moj daily and 20% used MX TakaTak on a daily basis
- 67% used a paid music streaming service – a 30% increase in time spent listening to music through paid audio streaming since 2019
- 71% of time spent listening to music was on artists from India
- 21.9 hours of time spent listening to music each week
The IMI Digital Music Study 2021 (28pp) is freely available from here.
