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Tag: Spotify India

  • OpenAI tunes in Vasundhara Mudgil for India role

    OpenAI tunes in Vasundhara Mudgil for India role

    MUMBAI: From playlists to prompt lists, Vasundhara Mudgil is tuning into a whole new frequency. The former head of communications at Spotify India has joined OpenAI as India communications lead, marking a major career shift from music streaming to machine learning.

    Based in Mumbai, Mudgil will now lead OpenAI’s communications strategy in one of the company’s fastest-growing markets. Her role will focus on shaping the brand’s local voice, driving engagement, and aligning India’s narrative with OpenAI’s global mission.

    At Spotify, Mudgil was instrumental in crafting the brand’s story during its India launch and steering its communications for over seven years. She built a distinct local identity for the platform while ensuring its messaging struck the right chord with both listeners and media.

    Before her streaming stint, she headed communications at Intel India, where she drove brand messaging, managed external engagement, and navigated crisis communications. Her early career at Genesis Burson-Marsteller saw her managing high-profile clients across tech, telecom and media, steadily rising to associate partner.

    With nearly two decades of experience in reputation management and strategic storytelling, Mudgil brings both tech fluency and creative finesse to OpenAI’s expanding India team. Looks like OpenAI’s next big story in India is ready to be well-communicated, and perfectly composed.

     

  • Kitkat and Spotify launch new campaign with Ayushmann Khurrana

    Kitkat and Spotify launch new campaign with Ayushmann Khurrana

    MUMBAI: Kitkat and Spotify have come together to help consumers ‘Break the Loop’ and break free from their monotonous playlists. Featuring Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana, Kitakat’s new campaign is inviting people to break out of their usual Spotify playlists and discover fresh tracks, genres and moods, turning everyday music breaks into moments of discovery.

    The film, conceptualised by Leo Burnett, brings alive Kitkat’s core message of meaningful, refreshing breaks in a modern, digital context. With specially designed KitKat packs, every break becomes a playful moment of discovery. Just scan the pack to unlock personalized Spotify tracks based on your listening behavior, serving you fresh music you’ve never heard before.

    Speaking about the campaign, Nestlé India head, confectionery business, Gopichandar Jagatheesan said, “Kitkat breaks have always been about taking a meaningful pause. With ‘Break the Loop,’ we’re extending that idea to the digital world, teaming up with Spotify to give consumers a light-hearted, relatable reason to pause their day and refresh not just their mood, but their songs too.”

    Spotify India director of sales – CPG & Auto, Sanketh Garimella said “Spotify playlists are designed to encourage the discovery of new music for listeners, and our personalized playlists tap into different moods and moments of the consumer. Kitkat’s new campaign is a great example of how those who listen to their favorite songs over and over again, every day, can easily find new music they’ll love on Spotify, with playlists curated just for them.”

    The campaign kicks off with a digital-first film across YouTube and Meta platforms, supported by a multi-touchpoint rollout including outdoor media, Spotify in-app audio advertising and engaging social content.

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  • Spotify plays a new tune with product marketing promotion

    Spotify plays a new tune with product marketing promotion

    MUMBAI: After orchestrating marketing symphonies at Spotify India for nearly four years, Pulkit Mathur has scored a promotion to head of product and growth marketing at the streaming behemoth. The appointment, which took effect in February 2025, elevates Mathur from his previous role as marketing manager, where he had been spinning strategies since August 2021.

    Before joining the Swedish streaming service, Mathur spent over five years at Tata Sky Ltd, where he climbed the ranks from area sales manager to senior brand manager. His tenure at the satellite television provider saw him conducting successful campaigns that struck a chord with regional audiences.

    The marketing virtuoso also collaborated with Ogilvy to redefine Tata Sky’s brand purpose and worked with research teams to establish creative testing methods, including the use of neuroscience.

    Mathur’s earlier career movements included stints at Hero MotoCorp Ltd, where he served as assistant manager and graduate engineering trainee, as well as brief interludes at Unilever as a management intern and at the ColorssFoundation for community development work

  • India’s music takes over the world-Spotify reveals 2024’s top exports

    India’s music takes over the world-Spotify reveals 2024’s top exports

    MUMBAI: Indian music isn’t just making waves; it’s orchestrating a global takeover. Spotify’s latest data reveals that songs by Indian artists saw a staggering 2000 per cent growth in international consumption since 2019. With listeners across continents grooving to everything from Hindi bangers to indie hip-hop, India’s sonic footprint is bigger than ever.

    From chart-topping pop and hip-hop to timeless Hindi melodies, 2024 proved that music from India isn’t just for domestic ears—it’s a global phenomenon. Leading the export charge were artists like Arijit Singh, Pritam, Anirudh Ravichander, Karan Aujla, Shreya Ghoshal, and A.R. Rahman, among others. Their music didn’t just travel; it dominated playlists worldwide.

    Spotify’s report highlights that 65 per cent of the top 30 most-exported tracks came from outside the film industry, marking a shift toward artist-first music. The most-exported songs included:

    .  Big Dawgs – Hanumankind, Kalmi

    . Akhiyaan Gulaab (From Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya) – Mitraz

    . Naina (From Crew) – Badshah, Diljit Dosanjh, Raj Ranjodh

    . Sajni (From Laapataa Ladies) – Arijit Singh, Prashant Pandey, Ram Sampath

    . Tauba Tauba – Karan Aujla

    . Jagga Jatt – Badshah, Diljit Dosanjh, Ikka, Sez on the Beat

    . Millionaire – Yo Yo Honey Singh

    Not only are Indian artists reaching new audiences, but music in regional languages is thriving worldwide. Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Bengali, and Gujarati songs saw significant growth, with major consumption in the USA, UK, Canada, Pakistan, and Malaysia. Hindi pop, Punjabi hip-hop, and Tamil pop led the charge as the most-streamed genres outside India.

    And, of course, Hindi music nostalgia never fades. Classic hits continued to dominate streams, proving that good music never gets old. Timeless tracks like Chammak Challo (Akon, Hamsika Iyer), Tum Hi Ho (Arijit Singh, Mithoon), and Agar Tum Saath Ho (Arijit Singh, Alka Yagnik) remained favourites among global listeners.

    With India’s music scene evolving and digital platforms breaking down borders, 2024 was just another step in an unstoppable global journey. Spotify’s insights prove one thing—whether it’s film soundtracks or independent beats, India’s music isn’t just being played; it’s being celebrated worldwide.

     

  • Arijit Basu joins Spotify as sales director – media, entertainment & finance in India

    Arijit Basu joins Spotify as sales director – media, entertainment & finance in India

    MUMBAI:  His new job is like music to his ears  like it was around 12 years ago.  Arijit Basu, a distinguished professional in sales and business development, has embarked on a new chapter in his career as the director of sales – media & entertainment and finance, India at Spotify. Basu brings nearly 20 years of experience to the world’s leading music streaming platform.

    Sharing his enthusiasm for the role, Basu announced on social media:”Am really excited to share that I will be starting a new position at Spotify as director of sales – media & entertainment & finance, India! Looking forward to collaborating and doing some stellar work.”

    Basu’s career is defined by a series of impactful roles that showcase his expertise in sales, business development, and digital marketing:

    * Vice-president – growth & strategy at BC Web Wise (Feb 2022 – Sep 2024): Championed growth initiatives, spearheaded digital marketing campaigns, and drove business development for two and a half years.
    * Head of business development at Arré (May 2018 – May 2021): Led strategic partnerships and sales..
    * Director – Head of sponsorship (west) at Viacom18 (Jan 2013 – May 2018): Played a pivotal role in driving sponsorship strategies for youth and English entertainment segments.
    * National sales lead for Sunburn Music Festival at Percept D Mark (Jan 2010 – Dec 2012): Contributed significantly to establishing Sunburn as a leading music festival in India.
    * Senior manager at Vh1 India (Apr 2006 – Sep 2009): Expanded the channel’s business footprint during his tenure.

  • Sripriya Iyer moves on from Spotify India

    Sripriya Iyer moves on from Spotify India

    MUMBAI: A specialist in media and entertainment recruitment and people management. That’s Sripriya Iyer for you. The HR professional is all set to depart from Spotify India with December being her last month of working with the audio streamer as senior recruiter, India.

    Sripriya has about 19 years of recruiting experience beginning with Accenture, joining BigFM for more than six years. She settled down at recruitment ABC Consultants for more 17 years according to her Linkedin profile. And then came her move to Spotify India where she helped the organisation grow its talent pool.

    Said the commerce graduate and post-graduate diploma holder in HR:  “My Spotify wrapped snapshot in the last 2.7 years says, innumerable memories, relentless hours of work and play, building some of the best teams and working amongst them and above all learning from the best! Spotify is a dream come true and will always be one! “

  • IndiGo and Spotify partner to launch 6E Shuffle

    IndiGo and Spotify partner to launch 6E Shuffle

    Mumbai: IndiGo and Spotify have partnered to launch 6E Shuffle, a unique experience that creates personalised travel playlists based on users’ journeys and preferences. IndiGo customers booking directly will also receive four months of free Spotify Premium. Through this collaboration, travelers will get curated playlists and destination suggestions tailored to their music tastes. Spotify data shows that Gen Z leads in travel-related music searches, with over 22 lakh searches in India each month. The campaign, featuring Armaan Malik, highlights that ‘there’s a 6E playlist for every journey’.

    IndiGo chief digital and information officer Neetan Chopra said: “We are delighted to announce our collaboration with Spotify to offer our customers a one-of-its-kind travel experience with a complimentary four-month subscription and personalised playlists. Travel and music are interconnected, and this partnership reflects our commitment to meeting the ever-evolving needs of our customer and enabling memorable journeys. Our vision is to create an immersive experience for our customers, while we remain continually dedicated to delivering affordable, hassle-free, and on-time travel experiences across our extensive network.”

    Spotify India director of marketing Neha Ahuja added, “Music is an integral part of travel, whether for work or holidays, and our partnership with IndiGo is so relevant because it allows us to tap into existing and new users. We know that travel is one of the most important use cases for music, and this year alone, listeners on Spotify in India created several lakhs of playlists around travelling, with more than 7.5 lac playlists created around ‘driving’, followed by ‘travel’, ‘bus’, and ‘road trip’. We are always looking to collaborate with brands with whom our synergy matches, and we can reach the right audience, meaningfully, and this is one such example.”

  • Spotify India & Amplified Intelligence partner to measure consumer attention across ads

    Spotify India & Amplified Intelligence partner to measure consumer attention across ads

    Mumbai: Spotify India and Amplified Intelligence, which focuses on accurate attention measurement, have shared findings from their research that determines attention benchmarks and norms across the audio streaming platform, and other similar platforms that brands lean into, for targeted advertising. The initiative also highlighted the impact of and relationship between mood and attention across all these advertising platforms.

    Key takeaways included:

    . Spotify video increases brand uplift by 50 per cent: With consistently high short-term advertising strength (STAS)1 scores across the board, Spotify creates an appealing environment for advertisers, spanning both audio and video advertising formats.

    . Advertising on Spotify amplifies the impact of social media campaigns: Combining social media with a presence on Spotify significantly enhances overall attention score for the campaign, resulting in an average increase of 28 points compared to campaigns relying solely on social media.

    . Amplified Intelligence quantified the value of Spotify’s advertising offering by capturing contextual location and mood information, and identifying how these were influenced. Providing granular insights into consumer behaviour in one of the largest markets in the world, the research findings support Spotify’s ability to offer brands a proven opportunity for successfully capturing active attention in India.

    Spotify measured a panel of users’ attention via Amplified Intelligence’s attentionTRACE tool, across one month using data from 2,500 people in India capturing more than 7,900 ad views. Video attention was captured by facial recognition software after consent was acquired from the respondents.

    Spotify head of sales – India, Arjun Kolady said: “Most advertisers have been focusing on determining the appropriate metrics for their campaigns. New findings reveal that creativity showcased on platforms with high attention generates greater impact, ultimately leading to improved business results. Our study with Amplified Intelligence has shown the impactful nature of Spotify’s ad formats and has helped to address the lack of research on visual attention in markets such as India.”

    Amplified Intelligence founder and CEO Karen Nelson-Field added, “One of the key challenges facing brands today is effective storytelling and identifying relevant success metrics. This becomes even more challenging with brief engagement times permeating many digital media formats. Our joint efforts with Spotify into measuring attention and identifying how audiences respond to ads proves how the metric is an ally to magnifying effectiveness and provides a canvas for brands to be able to connect to their audience.”

    Short-term advertising strength – Computed as the percentage of purchases among advertising-exposed consumers divided by the percentage of purchases among non-exposed consumers. This figure is multiplied by 100 giving a score where figures larger than 100, suggest a positive effect of the advertising.

  • Spotify launches new ‘Music, Magic Hai’ campaign

    Spotify launches new ‘Music, Magic Hai’ campaign

    Mumbai: In an effort to highlight the role of music in listeners’ lives, across moments and relationships, Spotify launches a fresh campaign in four languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.

    Reflecting the sentiment of “music, magic hai”, the new advertisements include four short films, which showcase, through simple relationships, how music unites, evokes nostalgia, bridges generational gaps, and is an enjoyable, everyday companion.

    Spotify India head of marketing Neha Ahuja said, “Music is a powerful medium that can transform your mood, and make and mend relationships. It has the power to make everyday moments magical. The new Spotify campaign aims to bring these emotions and moments to life, resonating deeply with Indian listeners.”

    For a seamless listening experience, Spotify also has a new offer for its Indian users (valid till August 25), wherein they can enjoy three months of Spotify Premium at ₹59. Eligible users can avail the offer at https://www.spotify.com/in-en/premium/. Other options such as individual, duo, family, and student plans are also available for those who are not eligible for the current offer.

  • Spotify partners with Warner Bros and DC to launch new audio series on Batman

    Spotify partners with Warner Bros and DC to launch new audio series on Batman

    Mumbai: Spotify India has announced its new original audio series titled “Batman Ek Chakravyuh” – a Hindi adaptation of the audio streaming platform’s global audio series “Batman Unburied.”

    The audio series premieres globally  on 3 May with nine international adaptations, including the original English-language script for the US, and localised versions developed for India, Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, and Mexico.

    “Batman Unburied” is the first project to debut as part of Spotify’s global multi-year agreement with Warner Bros and DC. The partnership will leverage DC’s vast library of iconic characters in new Spotify podcasts to unite fans around the world in an unforgettable audio experience.

    “‘Batman Ek Chakravyuh’ takes listeners on a journey where the characters inhabit the mind and linger long after the tale is over,” said the platform in a statement.

    The all-star cast for “Batman Ek Chakravyuh” includes Amit Sadh (as Batman), Sharib Hashmi (as The Riddler), Shweta Tripathi (as Barbara Gordon), Anangsha Biswas, Aseem Hattangady, Ashwin Mushran, Danish Hussain, Pooja Gor, Rajat Kapoor, Sarika and, Vrajesh Hirjee. Bringing David S Goyer’s creation to life in India is Mantra Mugdh, the director of the audio series.  

    While commenting on the announcement, Spotify India head of podcasts Dhruvank Vaidya said, “’Batman Ek Chakravyuh’ has been specially created for our local listeners and establishes new frontiers in audio storytelling for India. It brings an all-time favourite Super Hero to millions of listeners in India. Through our partnership with Warner Bros and DC, we have the unique opportunity to take Batman deeper into the market. Today, 1 out of 4 Spotify users in India listens to podcasts, and we hope that this spine chilling soundscape masterpiece, which tells the transcendent story of the one and only Bruce Wayne, brings his fans to Spotify.”

    “It has been absolutely thrilling to take on the mantle for a superhero such as Batman, that too in audio and with Spotify. You can expect nothing short of an epic, cinematic audio thriller, the likes of which India has never heard before. Voicing Batman was an experience in itself and I am glad we get to show our audience a re-imagined caped crusader,” asserted the actor Amit Sadh.

    “I am a fan of David Goyer’s Batman films and his tight plot brings out the different shades of Batman’s story so well. To have the opportunity to portray Barbara Gordon in the audio series written by him is truly special. Barbara Gordon is such an inspirational firebrand, a go-getter who knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get that. It has been a fun experience voicing her in Batman Ek Chakravyuh.” said actress Shweta Tripathi Sharma.

    “Batman Ek Chakravyuh” is a psychological thriller that takes listeners on a new journey deep into the mind of Bruce Wayne, introducing a slew of dark twists and turns with a number of classic Batman super-villains. When audiences meet Bruce Wayne he is a forensic pathologist, working in Gotham Hospital and tasked with examining the victims of The Harvester, a gruesome serial killer preying on Gotham City’s citizens. Not only will Wayne be forced to face his own mental demons, but he will also have to overcome them to save the citizens as his alter-ego, Batman.

    Listeners can also stream the English version of the podcast featuring Winston Duke as Bruce Wayne surrounded by an A-list cast that includes Hasan Minhaj, Gina Rodriguez, Jason Isaacs, and Lance Reddick.