The music industry never stops. From new labels to new music, there is always something new for listeners to look forward to. Billboard India helps you cut through the noise and pick the essentials you need to know to stay up to date.
- Bollywood bigwigs launch record labels
Indie music has been steadily growing year-on-year in India. A recent big win was Anuv Jain’s Coke Studio Bharat song “Arz Kiya Hai” hitting No. 1 on Spotify, and even entering the Global 200 list. An Orange Juice Lab report states that non-film music accounted for 44.2% of chart placements in India in 2025. Not surprising then that Bollywood giants Excel Entertainment and Yash Raj Films (YRF) announced their labels in the same week.
Excel announced Excel Music Records in collaboration with industry giant Universal Music Group. Their first song from “Mirzapur: The Movie” released on August 5. “Do Numbari” features Haryanvi hip-hop star Dhanda Nyoliwala. YRF’s Raah Records, too, released its first single “Jaadugiri” by indie singer-songwriter Aman on August 5, signalling a push for indie music talent.
- Universal Music puts new releases behind a paywall
Universal Music announced that from August end, all new releases will be behind a paywall for 72 hours before being available for free. This is an audacious move in a market that has more listeners than paying subscribers. The recent EY x IMI (Indian Music Industry) report on music streaming suggests that of the 175M-220M listeners market in India, only 14.4M are paid subscribers. How would this affect the reach and virality of new releases? Only time will tell.
- Fred Again.. keeps Indian fans on their toes
Fred Again.. and Latin Mafia created a mixtape live (the YouTube stream has 7.5M views) over 51 hours, and then announced a concert which got sold out in 30 minutes right after. But for Indian fans, the thrill was watching the British DJ listening to (and remixing) the familiar bars of “Pal Pal” by Talwiinder, Afusic and AliSoomroMusic. Last year, rapper Hanumankind was one of the collaborators for “Victory Five” with Fred Again, a track with over 65.96M streams on Spotify. After his unique multi-lingual tour announcement in June 2026, the artist continues to build his Indian fans’ excitement with mixes like these.
- The BTS and Recording Academy’s Fallout
In mid-June 2026, Recording Academy announced several new categories for the Grammys, including Best Asian Pop Music Performance. Fans across the globe called it an exclusionary tactic, eventually leading to BTS announcing their non-submission of “Arirang” for the 2027 Grammy awards. The Academy maintained their stance of calling the new category an addition and not an exclusion from the main categories. However, BTS Army was quick to trend #WeStandWithBTS, and coordinated a listening push for the songs from “Arirang”. The K-Pop band has been nominated five times for a Grammy, but hasn’t won one yet.
Will other Asian Pop artists also follow the BTS route? Everyone is on tenterhooks.
