If it’s December, then there will be a special episode in which we look at the Top 50 songs of the year and discuss the genres, artists, languages and labels that dominated the music charts. We talk about how deep catalogue tracks had a stronger presence than ever before, why it was a relatively better year for female artists, and what the key differences were between Spotify and Apple Music’s list of their most-streamed tunes of 2025.

Singer-songwriter Talwiinder has been among the fastest-rising Punjabi pop artists for the past few years, but he’s never had a big solo chart hit – until now. Over the past few months, his social media following has exploded and his streams have risen higher than ever before, with his 2025 single ‘Haseen’ reaching a new peak of No.2. In this week’s episode, we discuss why this is happening, and the takeaways for other artists from how he has modelled and marketed his career. As always, we look at the key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey dated November 14, 2025.

----

If you like this show, you will also like the Evolution of the South Asian Music https://linktr.ee/SouthAsianMusicPod

Over the last five years, there have been several instances of Indian independent artists scoring viral hits. However, rare are the cases in which those acts are able to convert that audience into ticket-buying fans. In this episode, we speak to a singer who has done just that, Paresh Pahuja whose 2022 single ‘Dooron Dooron’ went viral at the start of the year, and is now climbing the charts. He tells us how he went about it, and the advice he has for fellow artists who might find themselves in the same situation as him. As always, we look at the key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on October 23, 2025.

Welcome to the Indian music charts podcast, a show where we breakdown the hits and allays the trends in the Indian music industry. Taylor Swift’s latest album ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ is out and it has….mixed reviews. Hardcore fans and some music publications claim she hits the marks with it while on the other hand short format platforms are filled with reels about how the album doesn’t cut it compared to previous works with some claiming ‘she is too happy’ to produce the kind of music she has historically been known for.

Whatever side of the argument you fall on, you can’t deny that Taylor Swift really knows how to capture the public's imagination. So we couldn’t think of a better time to revisit this episode from 2024 where we discuss how Taylor Swift managed to crack the Indian charts, a market that is notoriously domestic first. Enjoy the episode and we will be back very soon!

------------------

PS: Excuse the nasal voice in the intro, I have the worst cold - Akhila

These days, several artists shift between genres and enjoy parallel careers both within and without the film music industry. Some enjoy an equal amount of success in multiple fields, while for others, their pop careers don’t quite match the numbers generated by their soundtrack work. In this episode, we examine why this is the case and if things will change over time. As always, we look at the key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey dated September 18, 2025.

As societal norms evolve and the realms of acceptable behaviour are consistently being redefined, it’s not uncommon for artists to falter. But how should they react when they’re called out? On this week’s episode, we discuss the controversy around Punjabi pop star Guru Randhawa’s music video for his hit “Azul”, how he and those involved in the making of and marketing of the track have responded to it, and how such missteps could and should be dealt with. As always, we look at the key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on August 29, 2025.

We’re back after a month-long break to discuss the soundtrack of the summer…err, monsoon – Saiyaara, which has broken a number of chart records. We talk about why it’s taken off the way it has, the good and bad aspects of its success, and what it might mean for the ways film music is marketed. As always, we look at the key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey dated August 14, 2025.

If it’s July, then it’s time for our half-year special in which we look back at the last six months on the charts, and discuss the top genres, languages and labels. We talk about why there have been fewer hits so far in 2025, what got an English-language track to No.1 after almost four years, and how the top tracks on Spotify and Apple Music have been differing more than in the recent past. As always, we look at the key movements on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, this time for the survey published on June 27, 2025.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

https://musically.com/2025/06/27/behind-the-campaign-ed-sheerans-sapphire-breaks-records-in-india/