New survey provides data on India’s Indie sector economics

Orange Juice Lab, which conducts research for “future music markets”, and Neon Culture, “a music and creative industry development hub”, hosted the first edition of Mapped, which they described as “India’s first creative data forum”, last week. The most insightful session that Music Ally attended among the day-long series of online talks and presentations, was by Orange Juice founder Jay Anand in which he shared the findings of ‘The Cost of a Dream’, a survey that gathered data on how India’s “artists earn, invest, and survive”.

Hearing the results captured in the report—which in Anand’s words seeks to “understand the lived realities of India’s non-film musicians: the financial, social and personal costs of pursuing a career in music outside the film eco-system”—made for sobering listening.

The report is based on the answers provided by 80 respondents in 29 Indian cities, working across 47 genres and 13 languages, 64% of whom identified as male, 34% as female, 2%  as non-binary. More than two-thirds—67.5% to be precise—are under the age of 30. 

The findings, as Orange Juice made clear, are “not an industry census but a grassroots snapshot”. Nevertheless, they bring to the forefront some hard numbers about the struggles of pursuing a career as an independent musician, which are frequently spoken about but have rarely been documented.

Over the last financial year, which ran from April 2024 to March 2025, the median annual income of the respondents was Rs96,000 (approx. $1,083) or Rs8,000 (approx. $90) per month, which shows that over half made less than Rs100,000 (approx.$1,128). Two-thirds earned less than Rs300,000 (approx. $3,383).

The mean annual income was higher at Rs430,000 (approx. $4,849), but this was skewed by the top ten highest earners, who made over Rs1m (approx. $11,277). Only about 15% made between Rs300,000 and Rs600,000 (approx. $6765). 

On the other hand, their median annual spend was Rs110,000 ($1,240), around Rs9,300 (approx. $105) per month, which means most artists are losing around Rs15,000 (approx. $169) per year. 

Given that the majority of Indian independent artists’ revenue comes from playing live, another startling statistic was that almost half or 49% of the respondents performed fewer than five shows over the past year, and that only 10% played more than 40 shows. This, despite the fact that 58% have been releasing music for four or more years. 

Unsurprisingly, 68% of those surveyed have two or more sources of income, out of which 50% have non-music-related jobs, while 34% earn through teaching, production or session work. 

Orange Juice Lab also asked them about trade-offs and compromises they make to sustain their music careers — 51% said they had scaled down on gear, promotion or live shows; 36% that they’ve either moved back in with their families or have some kind of shared housing; and another 36% that they have delayed major life milestones such as marriage, relocation or building savings; 21% have taken loans or relied on credit. A mere 6% reported making no compromises at all. 

Nearly 70% have considered quitting music because of financial pressures. When asked where they were losing potential income, the top three answers were the lack of marketing and audience reach (60%), the lack of a team (60%), and low streaming revenue (57%).

The idea behind ‘The Cost of a Dream’ is not to paint a doomsday scenario, as Anand pointed out, but to put down in real figures the economic state of Indian indie musicians, and to provide a starting point from which stakeholders across the industry can look to fill the gaps identified. It’s a task that seems all the more urgent at a time when India’s live industry is booming, yet its grassroots musicians seem stuck in an age-old loop of limited opportunities and low paying gigs.