Rise in smartphone penetration gives fresh lease of life to music industry

Increasing smartphone and mobile internet penetration has given a fresh lease of life to the recorded music industry, which was encumbered with the challenge of dwindling physical sales until a few years back. A report on the audio OTT industry in India by Deloitte, called Audio OTT Economy in India, throws light on the trend of music streaming in the country, and where the Indian recorded music industry stands compared to its global peers.

• India has an estimated 150 million monthly active users using audio OTT platforms to stream music 
• Indian consumers spend 21.5 hours a week listening to music, as compared to the global average of 17.8 hours a week 
• Owing largely to the rapidly evolving technological landscape, the growth and revival of the domestic music industry took overall revenues to $131 million, or Rs 850 crore, in 2017 
• Currently, four streams contributed to the overall revenue of the recorded music industry – physical sales, digital (download and music streaming), synchronisation (use of music in advertisements, TV shows, special features etc), and public performance rights 
• Of the total Rs 850 crore, Rs 665 crore (78.5 per cent) came from digital platforms, a majority of which was contributed by audio OTT platforms (Rs 567 crore)
• About 75 per cent of smartphone users listen to music on their phone, of which 86 per cent use on-demand streaming ervices like Apple Music, Gaana, Wynk, etc 
• Three models for business have emerged for audio OTT players — ad-supported, bundled (with telecom operators), and paid. The paid model includes transactional/pay per listen service, and subscription-based service