Indian Performing Rights Society licenses and collects royalties on behalf of lyricists and composers. The total music revenue is Rs.1800 crore. Of this, 70 per cent comes from streaming. Almost all of it comes from advertising. Every time a song is streamed, a label or the rights owner gets anywhere between 4 and 10 paise per play (against an estimated 50-90 paise globally). This is not substantial. The business, being free, remains small.

Streaming has been the silent saviour of industry. YouTube as a streaming brand makes bulk of its $20 billion revenue from advertising. It paid in 2020 over $4 billion to the music industry globally.

YouTube Music has 50 million paying subscribers world over. Globally, streaming firms keep 30 per cent of subscription revenues. The balance 70 per cent revenue is shared by music publishers (10 per cent), recording firms (53 per cent). The recording firms pay the artists.