Universal Inspiring Music Streaming Growth 2026

Prime Highlights

Grainge said China’s experience showed what healthier music ecosystems can achieve, and he expects India to follow a similar growth path.

Jani said the move reflects UMG’s commitment to building long-term value in India while strengthening the foundation for artists and songwriters.

Key Facts

Universal Music Group is the world’s largest music company by revenue and has operated in India since 1999 across labels, artist management and live entertainment.

China became the world’s fourth-largest recorded music market in 2025, with UMG reporting over 20% year-on-year recorded music revenue growth there.

Background

Universal Music Group will delay new releases from ad-supported streaming tiers in India starting at the end of August, extending a strategy it first deployed in China nearly six years ago.

Under the new policy, new music from major domestic and international artists on UMG’s roster will be available only to paying subscribers on global and regional streaming platforms in India for the first 72 hours after release, before becoming accessible to free, ad-supported listeners. The change applies broadly across new releases and covers all platforms UMG works with in the country.

Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, announced the move during the company’s earnings call in the final week of July. He described it as part of a wider effort to build healthier music markets in China and India, noting that both countries combine large creative talent pools with widespread smartphone use, making them central to UMG’s long-term growth plans.

Grainge pointed to China as evidence the approach works. He noted that when UMG introduced a similar paywall model there in 2019, sceptics feared it would hurt consumption. Instead, the business expanded rapidly, with China surpassing Germany to become the fourth-largest recorded music market in the world last year.

Viral Jani, Chief Revenue Officer of UMG India and South Asia, said the initiative aimed to strengthen long-term foundations for artists and songwriters while creating greater value for dedicated fans, calling it the start of a new chapter for the Indian music industry.