Your weekly signal from India’s music scene.

The Big Story

NH7 Weekender Returns — All Indian, All Confident

India’s most significant indie music festival came back this week after a year in the wilderness, and it made a statement: no international headliners. Not one.

The ICONiQ White NH7 Weekender ran March 13–15 at Mahalakshmi Lawns, Pune — back after a year-long hiatus following the 2024 edition’s cancellation by local police. The comeback lineup was entirely Indian: Prateek Kuhad, Raftaar x KR$NA, Talwiinder, Nucleya & Friends, KING, Indian Ocean, Aditya Gadhvi, Faheem Abdullah, Kushagra, Gini, and more across three stages. The comedy stage returned for the first time since 2022, with Varun Thakur, Rahul Subramanian, Rohan Joshi, and Urooj Ashfaq. NODWIN Gaming produced.

Day 1 delivered. Talwiinder closed the ICONiQ White Stage with a genre-blending set of Punjabi pop and alternative R&B that drew massive crowds. Nucleya & Friends turned the grounds into what coverage described as “a pulsating celebration of bass music.” Bandish Projekt brought Indian classical-electronic fusion to The Den stage. The bill ran from Kashmiri singer-songwriter Faheem Abdullah to Gujarati folk-pop crossover Aditya Gadhvi — music in Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Kashmiri, and Marathi.

The strategic read matters more than the reviews. This is only the second time NH7 has gone all-Indian (after March 2022). The festival positioned it as reflecting “evolved audience preferences” rather than cost-cutting — a bet that Indian audiences now want representation, not replication. The timing is validated by data: Spotify’s Loud & Clear report, released the same week (see Industry), shows India is the “most local” market globally, with 79.2% of streams going to domestic artists. I-Pop accounted for 50% of Spotify’s top 10 most-streamed songs in India for 2025. NH7 is reading the room correctly.

Releases

Dhurandhar: The Revenge dropped its first single “Aari Aari” on March 12, with the full soundtrack arriving March 17 ahead of the film’s March 19 release. T-Series acquired the music rights for INR 27 crore, replacing Saregama (which held rights for the first film). The original Dhurandhar soundtrack was the first Hindi film album to chart every track simultaneously on Spotify’s Global Top 200 — the sequel carries expectations to match.

In Telugu, Nagabandham released its first single “Namo Re” on March 15 — a devotional track composed by Junaid Kumar featuring 1,000 background dancers and visuals of the Padmanabha Swamy temple. Vishwak Sen’s Funky hit Netflix on March 13 with a Bheems Ceciroleo score, available across five languages.

On the independent side, RANJ’s 27-track mixtape 27 CLUB on Azadi Records continues drawing attention — a Chennai-born, Mumbai-based rapper working across English and Tamil with producer CLIFR. Wild City called it “swaggering rhythms” on a debut. Vishal Mishra’s 16-track album Pagalpan (T-Series) keeps charting, with lead single “Kya Bataun Tujhe” past 8.7 million Spotify streams — notable for its international collaborations with Portuguese and Spanish artists.

A data point worth sitting with: Music Ally analyzed Arijit Singh’s independent single “Raina” and found it tallied 318K Spotify streams (~53K/day) versus his concurrent Hindi film track “Ek Din” at 1.4 million streams (141K/day). Even India’s most-followed Spotify artist (174.9 million followers) can’t escape the Hindi film marketing machine gap. The independent release didn’t chart; the film song debuted at No. 163.

Live & Touring

Beyond NH7 (see Big Story), the week was stacked — three major events on March 14 alone.

Karan Aujla’s P-POP CULTURE Tour hit Chandigarh on March 14, drawing 40,000 fans to PCA Stadium, Mohali. Aujla opened rising from beneath the stage on a pop-up lift. Earlier in the week, Team Innovation confirmed “Mumbai 2.0” — the complimentary redo of the disastrous Holi show — for April 12 as an evening concert with free access for all original ticket holders. The tour projects 500,000+ total attendees and ~$30 million in revenue.

Anjunadeep Open Air landed at Bayview Lawns, Mumbai on March 14 with CRi, Eli & Fur, Nordfold, and Parallel Voices, followed by a Bengaluru date on March 15. The London label’s India editions quietly keep building the country’s credibility on the global melodic house circuit.

Rishab Rikhiram Sharma launched his 10-city “Sitar for Mental Health” tour in Bengaluru on March 15 with a headline innovation: the debut of “SITARA”, India’s first LED-enhanced electric sitar, built by his father Sanjay Sharma of the legendary Rikhi Ram instrument family. The tour format includes guided listening and reflective pauses, framing classical music as wellness experience design.

Yo Yo Honey Singh played a sold-out “My Story — India Chapter” at IG Indoor Stadium, Delhi on March 14. Delhi issued a traffic advisory for the event. His parents attended; his mother was visibly emotional.

Sunidhi Chauhan postponed her Kolkata concert (originally March 14) to March 25 due to a severe throat infection, following her emotional breakdown on stage in Lucknow the previous week. Her doctor advised complete vocal rest.

Also this week: UN40: Music & Beyond, a new festival by Saregama Live for under-40 audiences, ran March 14–15 at NICE Grounds, Bengaluru with Himesh Reshammiya, Talwiinder, Flipperachi (India live debut), Aditya Rikhari, Raja Kumari, and Thaikkudam Bridge.

Industry

Spotify’s Loud & Clear 2026 report (released March 11) is the week’s most important data drop for Indian musicians. The platform paid out over $11 billion to the music industry in 2025, up $1 billion year-over-year. 13,800 artists now earn at least $100,000 (up 1,400). Songs in 16 languages reached the Global Top 50 in 2025 — double the number from 2020.

The India numbers tell the story. Indian artists were discovered 11.2 billion times by first-time listeners (13% increase YoY). The number generating INR 5 million+ in royalties has more than doubled since 2022; those at INR 10 million+ have more than tripled. India has 84 million Spotify users. But the conversion problem persists — only ~20 million of India’s 192 million streaming subscribers across all platforms actually pay (~10%).

YouTube Premium Lite added background play and offline downloads in India (March 12) at INR 89/month — previously Lite only offered ad-free viewing. This effectively makes it a partial music streaming competitor at a fraction of Spotify/JioSaavn pricing, significant in a market where over 90% of users are on free tiers.

Love and War delayed. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film — whose INR 35 crore music rights deal with Saregama headlined last week — has been pushed to August/September 2026 due to reshoots. Bhansali confirmed the film is “90% complete.” No soundtrack singles released yet.

Tips Music posted strong Q3 FY26 results: revenue INR 94.29 crore (up 21% YoY), PAT INR 58.7 crore (up 33%, 62% margin), YouTube subscribers at 134 million. Chairman Kumar Taurani flagged YouTube Shorts monetization as an issue, pushing for revenue-share over flat license fees.

The Conversation

The Badshah situation escalated from controversy to legal crisis. After skipping the Haryana Women Commission hearing on March 13 — his legal team appeared instead and was denied the request for video conferencing — Commission chairperson Renu Bhatia ordered police to arrest Badshah and authorized passport seizure. She also wrote to the National Commission for Women requesting a nationwide performance ban. On March 14, a Facebook post linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang issued a death threat against him — unverified, but widely reported.

Singer Sona Mohapatra became the first prominent industry voice to publicly criticize Badshah, calling the Tateeree visuals “the laziest trope in pop culture” and writing: “Cultural influence carries responsibility. Artists shape imagination.” The selective enforcement question remains — Guru Randhawa’s “Azul” featured similar school-setting imagery but faced no legal action. Meanwhile, Badshah remains on track for London’s O2 Arena on March 22. Passport seizure request notwithstanding.

The “Enjoy Enjaami” credits dispute resurfaced. Rapper Arivu and composer Santhosh Narayanan clashed on X on March 13 over credits and royalties for the Tamil independent track (542 million YouTube views). Arivu claims he wrote the lyrics, composed the main melody, and performed the song based on his own family’s history on Sri Lankan tea plantations — yet was credited as a “featuring artist” and says he’s received no royalties five years later. Narayanan called the allegations “dishonest and delusional” and challenged Arivu to a public debate. The dispute highlights a structural problem India’s independent music ecosystem has yet to solve: who owns what when collaborative tracks go viral?

Craft & Tools

Bitwig Studio 6 officially launched March 11 with a revamped automation system, clip aliases (shared patterns that update together), and a global key signature system — free for users with active update plans. In Ableton’s camp, Live 12.4 entered public beta with Link Audio (stream audio between devices on a local network in real time), updated Erosion/Chorus-Ensemble/Delay effects, and improved stem separation.

Suno’s CEO walked it back. In a Billboard interview on March 13, Mikey Shulman retracted his statement that most people “don’t enjoy” making music — “I really wish I had chosen different words.” He also confirmed a new Suno model trained exclusively on licensed content is expected this year. The company sits at $2.45 billion valuation with 2 million paid subscribers and $300 million ARR.

A Sonarworks survey of 1,100+ working producers quantified what most already know: 60% use AI for ideation, 30% as a co-producer, only 5% delegate full production. Top AI use cases are audio cleanup, stem separation, and automated mixing — not songwriting. Musicality, critical listening, and emotional judgment are viewed as irreplaceable.

India’s IT Rules 2026 amendment now formally recognizes “Synthetically Generated Information,” requiring watermarking, immutable metadata, and a 3-hour takedown window for flagged AI content. India continues building its own AI-music regulatory framework, distinct from the U.S. approach.

Meanwhile, Native Instruments remains in preliminary insolvency since January 27 after the Bridgepoint/Bain Capital acquisition collapsed. If you’re eyeing iZotope plugins: Neutron 5 Elements is free until March 17.

Global Ear

Gorillaz on SNL with Anoushka Shankar. The band made their Saturday Night Live debut on March 8, performing “Clint Eastwood” and “The Moon Cave.” Shankar performed live on stage for “The Moon Cave” alongside Asha Puthli and Black Thought (The Roots). The Mountain sits at 85/100 on Metacritic — recorded partly in Jaipur, Delhi, and Mumbai with contributions from Asha Bhosle, Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, and flautist Ajay Prasanna. Arguably the most significant Indian presence on a major international album in years.

BTS’s Arirang drops March 20 — their first full-band album in over five years, post-military service. 14 tracks, producers include Diplo, Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), and Flume. A free concert at Gwanghwamun Square livestreamed on Netflix follows March 21, then an 82-date world tour from April. BTS accounts for every K-pop No. 1 in Spotify India’s history — expect immediate chart impact.

Live Nation’s DOJ settlement is fracturing. After the March 9 deal avoided a Ticketmaster breakup, 26 states rejected the terms and the trial resumes March 17. The judge scolded both parties for secret settlement negotiations. For India’s growing ticketing market — District by Zomato, BookMyShow, and others — the global implications of enforced platform competition are worth watching.

Quick Hits

  • BookMyShow Live and Mumbai Indians launched “The MIX” — a two-day music-cricket-culture festival at Jio World Garden, Mumbai on March 21–22 with CamelPhat, Divine, Nucleya, and Sanju Rathod. Cricket-music crossover: a format to watch.
  • UN40: Music & Beyond in Bengaluru featured Flipperachi’s India live debut — the Kuwaiti-Indian DJ behind the viral Arabic rap feature on the Dhurandhar soundtrack. Saregama Live’s new festival for under-40s is an interesting move from a catalogue-heavy label.
  • Charlie Puth was named Chief Music Officer at Moises, the AI-powered music platform with 70 million users. The celebrity-AI-music alignment continues.
  • A Bharatanatyam performance set to Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” went viral — Indian classical forms keep finding new audiences through social media fusion.

Coming Up

  • Dhurandhar: The Revenge full soundtrack + Spotify album launch event, Mumbai — March 17
  • Live Nation/Ticketmaster antitrust trial resumes — March 17
  • BTS Arirang album release — March 20
  • Rishab Rikhiram Sharma, Mumbai — March 20
  • No Art Festival, Mumbai — March 21
  • The MIX (BookMyShow + Mumbai Indians), Mumbai — March 21–22
  • Karan Aujla, Indore — March 21
  • Badshah at The O2, London — March 22
  • Def Leppard India debut, Shillong — March 25
  • Sunidhi Chauhan (rescheduled), Kolkata — March 25
  • Keinemusik, Mumbai — March 27
  • Kanye West India debut, Delhi — March 29

Sources linked inline throughout. Every factual claim has a source.