India's rising music star Diljit Dosanjh is breaking the Bollywood mold

By Sohee Kim

For decades, Indian music has been synonymous with Bollywood, whose glossy soundtracks have long dominated the country’s music market. But a seismic shift is underway, led by India’s rising global music star.

Diljit Dosanjh, a 41-year-old musician, actor and producer from Punjab in northwestern India, is rewriting the formula for success in the world's fastest-growing music market. Moving away from traditional film soundtracks with his hip-hop and rap-infused rhythms and high-profile collaborations with pop icons like Ed Sheeran and Sia, Dosanjh is breaking boundaries and amassing a massive following.

Last summer, Dosanjh made an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he was introduced as “the biggest Punjabi performer on the planet.” He regaled fans with hits Born to Shine and G.O.A.T.

His 2024 Dil-Luminati tour sold 742,000 tickets worldwide, according to Warner Music Group, making it the biggest tour of any Indian artist. The North America and European legs drew more than 346,000 fans combined and brought in more than $44 million.

“Indian music is not just Bollywood music,” said Dosanjh, who sings in his native Punjabi, in a phone interview while touring in the Middle East. “The traditional folk music in every part of the country is supremely good. It’s unfortunate that the world so far could only get a taste of Bollywood music that is commercial.”

Dosanjh’s unique blend of musical styles, combined with his winsome personality and ubiquitous social media presence, is raising the profile of Indian music and proving to be a successful bet for his label Warner Music, a late entrant to the Indian market when it arrived in 2020.

While India ranks as the 14th-largest recorded music market, dwarfed by the the US and Japan, the influence of Indian music on global streaming charts has surged, thanks to a young and digitally savvy population. The Indian diaspora, estimated to be around 35 million and largely based in North America, the UK and the Middle East, is a major contributor to the demand for Indian music streaming and concerts. Consumption of music from India skyrocketed by more than 2,000% from 2019 to 2024, according to Spotify Technology SA.

There’s room for even more growth, according Jay Mehta, managing director of Warner Music India. The Indian music industry has a chance to double its base in the next three to four years, he said. Mehta has been exposing Indian artists to a wider, global audience by paring them up with the label’s international stars like Coldplay and One Republic.

People’s tastes have also evolved. According to Spotify, domestic fans streamed almost 70% international music on the platform when the company debuted in India in 2019, compared with 70% local music now. Punjabi tunes in particular are topping the charts, not just in India but among a global audience, according to Spotify. Dosanjh is partly responsible for that.

Over the past four years, a major change in how people consume music has taken place, “moving from a soundtrack-driven ecosystem to an artist-centric ecosystem,” Mehta said.

The shift plays to Dosanjh’s strengths—he’s a social media star who posts funny, heartfelt videos on TikTok and YouTube, encouraging engagement from fans. His online presence is a mix of humor, cultural pride, and personal moments, making him highly relatable. An avid cook, he often posts videos of himself brewing coffee or scrambling some eggs. He acknowledges his halting English is a barrier to greater reach, but still managed to convince Sheeran to sing a bit in Punjabi with him. He actively reposts fan content, creating viral sensations that amplify his brand, such as a dance challenge for his latest hit song, Water.

“Today, the digital era allows for instant global exposure,” Dosanjh said. “Any song I create has the potential to become a worldwide success overnight, thanks to this connectivity.”

The rise of artists like Dosanjh exemplifies the superfan strategy taking hold in India. Mehta has taken a page from the playbook of K-pop superstar BTS’ fan group, ARMY, to help drum up even more enthusiasm for Dosanjh and Hindi rapper King. One of the leaders of ARMY was recruited by Warner Music to spearhead social communication projects between the record label’s artists and their superfans.

This artist-driven model is boosting engagement with listeners who stream songs and buy tickets to see their favorite artists in person. The live-events business is booming in India. There were more than 30,000 concerts held in the country last year, and ticket revenue now outpaces sponsorships—a reversal of the pre-pandemic model, according to consultancy EY.

Described as having a “soulful” voice, Dosanjh’s live performances are brimming with energy, unique dancing and an engagement with the audience that has endeared him to legions of fans.

Dosanjh’s Coachella debut in 2023 marked a turning point, spotlighting Indian, non-Bollywood music on an international stage. He was the first act ever to perform at the festival entirely in Punjabi. “Music is a universal sound and universal force. You cannot limit it to one genre or category,” he said.

Since then, he has collaborated with Australian artist Sia on the Punjabi song Hass Hass, which helped elevate each artist’s profile in their home country. Sheeran joined the stage at Dosanjh’s concert in Birmingham, England, as a surprise guest for a remix of their hit track ‘Nania x Shape of You.’

Dosanjh is also an actor, best-known for the 2016 action crime film Udta Punja and Amar Singh Chamkila, a biographical drama about a Hindi singer, both available on Netflix, and Shadaa, a romantic comedy on Amazon Prime Video.

His popularity and high profile has given Dosanjh broad influence in India. In a conversation earlier this year with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he pitched an idea to hold a global music festival in India bigger than Coachella.

The arrival of Spotify and other streaming platforms in India, the second-largest English speaking nation in the world, has played a crucial role in helping India raise the quality of its entertainment output. With diverse musical offerings from India, the number of countries that have songs from the country on top of their streaming lists is growing, said Ashish Pherwani, leader for the Media & Entertainment sector at EY in India.

“There’s more acceptance of Indian music that’s happening right now,” Pherwani said. “It’s just the tip of the iceberg. Honestly, there’s so much more that can happen around Indian content. It’s been a largely diaspora-oriented industry five years back, but that’s changing now.”