India’s indie music industry witnesses rise with the arrival of SwaLay in The Market

It is no longer news that India’s music industry has seen commendable growth in the past 3 years, primarily because of the independent creators contributing to the popularity. The sudden increase in the demand for streaming platforms, digital releases, and regional music is changing the dynamics of the market, and several start-ups have come into the picture to help these individual artists manage their careers more efficiently.

As Spotify has released a report in 2024, many new listeners discovered Indian artists, and the numbers are quite high, about 11.2 billion times, an average increase of 13 per cent. Added to this is the royalty being earned on Spotify by the Indian artists, which has reached an amount of Rs 5 million, doubled between 2022 and 2024, and further reached Rs 10 million.

As per IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), the growth on a larger level achieved by India’s music market in 2021 recorded 20.3 per cent. This doesn’t stop here, and the streaming continues to record the largest shares of revenue being generated, making India reach the top 20 global music markets.

Regional music is also contributing largely to the growth of the Indian music market, and as per the latest report released in 2025 by TuneCore, genres like folk, Bengali, and instrumental are witnessing more than usual average releases and a great audience response. Although cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Pune continue to be the major hubs, smaller cities are stealing the show by producing music as per the increasing demand.

While the demand and supply of music continue to increase, SwaLay Digital, a music tech start-up, has emerged as an “artist-first” platform. The SwaLay Plus service introduced by them is focused on independent music artists, targeting a global audience, monitoring growth, and royalty management. In FY205 alone, SwayLay reported revenue of Rs 25 lakh, which is a good amount considering the start-up is still in an early phase.

The company is powered by AWS infrastructure that ensures flexibility on all music platforms run in India, including multilingual platforms. The main focus of the start-up is to surpass the services provided by the traditional distribution platforms, and that is to develop a broader system.

Any individual artist using the platform not only gets access to release their music on Apple Music, Spotify, JioSaavn, YouTube Music, and others, but also gets access to radio play on Red FM, caller tunes, and brand collaboration with major names like Shemaroo and Bajaj.

The combination of digital distribution, brand collaboration, and offline activation makes SwayLay meet the broader music industry needs. It is enabling the regional and independent music artists to not stay backstage or be treated as secondary, but to compete equally with mainstream music. The constant increase in the demand for regional music of India has reached a stage where individual artists can earn the same level of success as traditional mainstream music.

This article is from the Brand Desk. User discretion is advised.