AR Rahman has 15+ million monthly users on Spotify now

AR Rahman has 15+ million average monthly listeners on Spotify. The double Academy Award-winner becomes the first and only composer in the world to have made this achievement. With over 422 million active users, Spotify is one of the largest audio streaming platforms.

The listenership of Rahman has surpassed even the likes of legendary international musicians including Hans Zimmer, John Williams, and Ennio Morricone.

A tweet from @filmsandstuffs, a popular pop-culture handle, read, “This is such a huge feat even when comparing the contemporary world-famous legendary film composers too."

Hans Zimmer: 8M+

Alan Silvestri: 1M+

Michael Giacchino: 4M+

James Newt. Howard: 3M+

John Williams: 4M+

Ram in Djawadi: 2M

Music has emerged as the preferred stress-buster for those working from home, playing a therapeutic role in the post-Covid era. The number of subscribers of audio streaming services has grown nearly 60% in the last two years, according to reports. Indian film music, in particular, tops the charts.

In the absence of new movie releases, non-film music has shown a tremendous increase year-on-year, too. A report published in Live Mint says India’s audio streaming market is dominated by Gaana, the streaming service owned by Times Internet Ltd, with a 30% share, followed by JioSaavn (24%), Wynk Music (15%), Spotify (15%), Google Play Music (10%), and others (7%).

AR Rahman, in an interview with the Hindu, said, "I feel that when I push myself to do interesting work, people also learn with me."

The music composer feels there is no dearth of talent but observes the country lacks good centres for the artists to perform. "In the west, there is a popular culture of independent artists, unlike in India where music is largely dominated by films. There is a whole open territory waiting to be exploited for many people," he told The Indian Express.

Rahman advocates the need to set up a place like Broadway where artists from across the country will get a platform to perform. “We should have a place like Broadway so there will be so many jobs created and a sense of pride. Imagine being a part of Ramayana and Mahabharata and touring cities, there are so many stories out there which can happen,” Rahman added.

However, he is hopeful that the future will “demand” all the necessary things required for the growth of indie music.