• [Revisit] Why EDM acts live draw exceeds their streaming numbers?
    Nov 5 2024

    In May 2023, "Haath Varti" by KSHMR and MC Stan, the first single from the former's concept album Karam entered Spotify's Weekly Top Songs Chart for India. That week, it was the only EDM track on the survey. This led us to a discussion on why EDM tends to draw more live audiences than it does on streaming. Now that we're into the last two months of the year, when there is a cluster of electronic music festivals, we felt it was a great time to revisit this conversation.

    Show more Show less
    27 mins
  • [Revisit] How are album marketing stratgies changing in the age of the single?
    Oct 22 2024

    Historically, the last quarter of the year tends to be the busiest for new album releases. Earlier, they were timed to capitalise on the festive season. These days, they're more likely to be the result of the culmination of a year full of singles being bundled into an album, or an artist tying a fresh full-length to an upcoming concert tour or festival appearances. Keeping this in mind, we thought it would be a great time to revisit our episode on single vs. album marketing strategies. This episode was originally recorded in March 2024. Enjoy the revisit! We will be back with a new episode soon!

    Show more Show less
    29 mins
  • How did Prateek Kuhad crack the Indian charts with an English-language song?
    Oct 8 2024

    Prateek Kuhad's "Co2" entering the chart marks the rare instance of an English-language track by an Indian artist generating enough streams to reach the top 200. On this week's episode, we discuss why such occurrences are so few and far between, how he managed to do it, and why tunes such as this hit represent a niche within a niche. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on October 4, 2024.

    Show more Show less
    24 mins
  • Coldplay, Diljit and the Frenzy for Gig Tickets - Who's No.1 on the Live Charts?
    Sep 24 2024

    With Diljit Dosanjh's 2020 track "Born To Shine" reaching a new peak in the aftermath of his tour announcement, we turn our focus to the country's thriving live music scene to discuss the unprecedented scramble for tickets for shows by acts such as Coldplay and him. We also list out the international concerts with the highest attendance figures so far, and predict who we think might be visiting next. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on September 20, 2024.

    Show more Show less
    42 mins
  • How Did Stree 2 Achieve A 100% Strike Rate? ft. Neha Malhotra
    Sep 10 2024

    The soundtrack to this year's highest-grossing Hindi film so far, horror comedy Stree 2 has accomplished what no other OST has in recent times: each of its four tracks has reached the top ten. In this episode, we speak to Neha Malhotra, assistant general manager - music marketing and audio monetisation at Saregama, about the strategies the label implemented to promote the movie's tunes and consequently, reach this rare milestone. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on September 6, 2024.

    Show more Show less
    31 mins
  • How Did "Big Dawgs" Become India's Big Crossover Hit? ft. Rohan Venkatesh
    Aug 27 2024

    With "Big Dawgs" by rapper Hanumankind and producer Kalmi entering the charts in over a dozen countries, it's become one of the first Indian releases to cross over internationally. This week, we interview Rohan Venkatesh, the founder of management company Imaginary Frnds whose roster includes both HMK and Kalmi, to talk about the release strategy for the hip-hop smash and how multiple touch points across social media served as trigger points for the track to take off first in the US and then across the world. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on August 23, 2024

    Show more Show less
    26 mins
  • All About Music Special: Transition from Fan to Fandom (ft. Chaar Diwaari, Natasha Mahtani, Owen Roncon, Dhruvank Vaidya)
    Aug 12 2024

    On this special episode that was recorded live at the All About Music conference in Mumbai on August 7, 2024, we interview a panel comprising singer and rapper Chaar Diwaari; the head of music and podcasts at Spotify India, Dhruvank Vaidya; artist manager and Swiftie Natasha Mahtani; and chief of business - live events at BookMyShow, Owen Roncon, to understand how fandom is built and monetised, from their distinct perspectives as artists, fans, managers, platforms and promoters. This time, instead of looking at the key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India survey, we begin the show with a few examples of how superfandom influences the charts.


    Data mentioned at the start of the podcast can be viewed here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-HgnKilaAg6meObBxEmFA8icjJ7AuKEfwvhYxbkVP68/edit?usp=sharing


    Special shout out to Team All About Music: Ashish Jose, Chandni Soni, Kinselle Fernandes, Krishna, Anamika Sinha.

    Show more Show less
    47 mins
  • I have a viral hit. What next?
    Jul 30 2024
    With "Aasa Kooda" spending another week in the top three, Tamil pop singer Sai Abhyankar has done what few other acts have in the recent past: follow-up a viral smash with another bonafide hit. This week, we discuss what he did differently to achieve this, how virality doesn't always convert into chart placements, the mistakes artists often make when trying to replicate their previous success and what they should be doing instead. As always, we look at key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on July 26, 2024.
    Show more Show less
    32 mins