In November, Spotify brought the growing wave of independent pop into the spotlight with its first-ever Spotify I-Pop Icons Live event. Spotify partnered with AJIO to elevate the cultural celebration by blending music with cutting-edge style.

The Spotify Premium showcase featured top I-Pop talent including King, Armaan Malik, Jonita Gandhi, Aditya Rikhari, Kushagra, Hansika Pareek, and Sanju Rathod, highlighting the rapid rise of independent pop stars across India.

Hosted in Mumbai, the event was a culmination of months of rising popularity for indie pop artists on Spotify’s Weekly Top Songs India chart. Since launching I-Pop Icons in August 2024, Spotify has grown the initiative to over 4.28 lakh followers, reinforcing its commitment to building India’s next big music movement.

A key highlight was Spotify’s collaboration with AJIO, which styled King for his set at the concert, bringing the brand’s bold, trend-led fashion aesthetic to one of the most influential I-Pop voices today.

The collaboration reflects Spotify and AJIO’s shared belief in celebrating contemporary culture and the communities that define it. Both brands continue to shape how India experiences music and fashion, recognising that young consumers today express themselves through both style and sound.

The concert’s audience, young, fashion-conscious, and deeply engaged, were perfectly aligned with AJIO’s universe. At the venue, AJIO created an immersive AJIO Experience Zone, complete with its signature GlamCam. The space became a crowd favourite, offering fans a fun, interactive way to capture their I-Pop moments while discovering AJIO’s freshest fashion drops.

Dhruvank Vaidya, Head – Music and Podcast, Spotify India, said,  “Over the last few years, we have seen the consumption of I-Pop music increase significantly on Spotify. Spotify is fully invested in growing I-Pop in India through the I-Pop playlist ecosystem, bespoke content that we create with artists and now the first ever I-Pop Icons Live event. Of the artists that performed at the event, Aditya Rikhari with ‘Sahiba’ currently has the top spot on the Spotify Weekly Top Songs India chart, while King’s ‘Maan Meri Jaan’ was the most-streamed song in India in 2023, based on Wrapped data. We expect to see this growth continue, as artists create more I-Pop music and keep growing their fan base. Spotify will continue to play a very key role in bringing these artists closer to their biggest fans.”

Independent artists continue to lead

The event celebrated the momentum Spotify has helped build for India’s independent artists, a movement that AJIO, with its youth-first style positioning, aligns with.

Armaan Malik, with over 23 million Spotify followers, continues to set global benchmarks through international collaborations and was the first Indian artist to feature on Spotify’s Times Square billboard in 2020.

Jonita Gandhi, with close to 2 million followers and 17 million monthly listeners, has become one of Spotify’s most streamed pop voices, with ‘Sitara’ crossing 21.7 million streams.

Breakout act Kushagra, with over 4 lakh followers, has seen an extraordinary 665% growth in listeners on Spotify over the past year.

Rising star Hansika Pareek continues her upward trajectory, with ‘Ratiyaan’ breaking into the Top 100 of the Virat Songs India chart.

Regional pop also took centre stage. Sanju Rathod’s ‘Gulabi Sadi’ became the first Marathi song to cross 100 million streams on Spotify, while ‘Shaky’ remains the only Marathi track to reach #2 on the Spotify Top Songs India chart.

Together, Spotify and AJIO aim to create even more culturally rich experiences where music, fashion, and youth expression seamlessly come together, shaping the future of India’s contemporary culture.