What YouTube’s Latest Announcements Mean for the Indian Music Industry

Among several new initiatives and datapoints shared at the first edition of the World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in Mumbai between May 1 and 4, 2025, was video streaming giant YouTube’s announcement of a new live series, YouTube Music Nights.

Starting big, the performances at the first YouTube Music Night at WAVES included Norwegian electronic artist Alan Walker and New Delhi-bred artist King (debuting their upcoming single “Story of a Bird”) and hip-hop group The Dharavi Dream Project’s collaboration with South Korean a cappella/beatboxing group Beatpella.

A press release states that YouTube Music Nights will be a “series of specially curated live, in-person events designed to bring fans closer to Indian artists.” This pretty much signals the investment and belief that digital platforms are now placing on the importance of on-ground performances.

Considering YouTube was the go-to streaming platform much before other players entered the Indian market, their previous excursions on-ground include the creator-focused YouTube Fan Fest, an annual offering that has taken place in Mumbai. While creators as an umbrella group will likely remain a top priority—YouTube CEO Neal Mohan revealed that India has over 15,000 channels with over one million subscribers each—YouTube Music Nights signals more hot-ticket live shows around the country.

That also means more investment in India’s artists and creators. YouTube also revealed that it has paid out over ₹ 21,000 crore to creators, artists, and media companies in the last three years in India (2022-2024). Lyor Cohen, the Global Head of Music at YouTube and Google, said in a special keynote address that the platform is doubling down on music videos and visual storytelling as powerful tools to export Indian music culture to the world—a move that signals new creative and commercial possibilities for artists and the industry alike.

Similar to other streaming platforms, YouTube has also pushed Indian artists like Kayan (2022), Seedhe Maut (2021) and Lost Stories (2020) globally in the past via their artist development Foundry program for independent acts. While last year’s cohort didn’t include any Indian artists, YouTube announced that the Foundry Class of 2025 will spotlight Indian talent in a big way. A description for the program in 2024 stated that “Foundry artists receive access to direct support from our teams, exclusive workshops, mentorship, marketing support, and the inside track on the latest YouTube Music features designed to help artists deepen connections with their global fans.”

Top highlights from YouTube at WAVES also included renowned singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan creating a new song with Google’s Music AI Sandbox tool, which was unveiled at the event. A renowned and influential artist like Mahadevan has now lent his support to Sandbox, which was a showcase in seeing how the human interaction between a composer and a music AI plays out.

“My fear was, ‘Is this trying to replace me or something?’ Then, you know, it gets very clear that that is not the intention at all,” Mahadevan says in a video rundown of his Google Lab Sessions with Sandbox. It could signal more artists turning to giving Music AI Sandbox a spin.

Other announcements at WAVES included YouTube announcing Weekly Top Music Videos charts across Hindi, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Haryanvi, and Bhojpuri, offering greater recognition and discovery for artists. The platform also promised more charts in Indian languages will continue to be rolled out.