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By Kajal Sharma - 12 May 2026 05:36 PM

India's music industry is becoming more and more divided between algorithm-driven labels and those that still rely on gut feeling.The reality is far more uneven, at least in India. New models and tools are being tested by a portion of the industry. Most, especially regional and mid-sized labels, continue to use workflows and instincts that precede the streaming era. There is more than simply a technological divide between the two groups. There is a distinction in how the company is seen.Therefore, whether AI is changing India's music industry is not the true question. The question is whether that reshaping is still a discussion taking place at the periphery or if it is sufficiently widespread to qualify as a structural change.The majority of labels are unaware that the funnel has flipped. Short-form video has caused the most noticeable upheaval, and even in this case, the industry's reaction is divided between those who comprehend what is truly going on and others who are merely responding. The founder of Aumora Music, Neil Gandhi, explains the scope of the change. He claims that "Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts have completely rewritten the revenue logic, in addition to changing how music is consumed in India." He has observed that virality has accounted for "nearly 40% of most artists’ streams through 2025-26, with sync deals for Reels generating faster payouts than traditional radio ever did" at Aumora.

There is an obvious creative outcome. According to Gandhi, "labels have responded by chasing hook-heavy tracks under 15 seconds, shifting creative decisions from A&R instinct to algorithm analytics." Whether or not a label has a formal AI strategy, that is an important statement about how commissioning decisions are made. The algorithm is in the room already.Gandhi is cautious not to portray this as clearly positive, though. "That's a trap as well as a democratizing force," he claims. "Long-form artistry is squeezed; discovery accelerates." He believes that the hybrid approach is a better strategy. "A combination of branded content arrangements, user-generated royalties, and ad income splits. Independents are gaining significant power as a result. However, without more equitable platform divisions, we run the risk of turning music into stuff that is constantly created and quickly forgotten.

 

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