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On August 21, Spotify brought together five of India’s most exciting pop artists for the second edition of I-Pop Icons Live, a Spotify Premium experience, held in Mumbai. Following its debut last November - which featured King, Armaan Malik, Jonita, Aditya Rikhari, Kushagra, Hansika Pareek, and Sanju Rathod - this year’s event also highlighted artists at the forefront of the I-Pop wave in India: artist-first Indian pop music that is independent of films, and not defined by a single language or sound.
The second edition took place at Mehboob Studios, Bandra, with performances by Anuv Jain, Harrdy Sandhu, Rashmeet Kaur, Paresh Pahuja, and Taaruk Raina.
Anuv Jain, one of I-Pop’s most consistent chart-toppers, now commands over 20 million monthly listeners and 12 million followers on Spotify. The Ludhiana-born singer-songwriter first introduced his music to the world at the age of 16, when he first shared an acoustic version of Baarishein. He currently has two songs featured in the top 20 of the Weekly Top Songs India chart on Spotify, with Arz Kiya Hai now having lived for over 50 weeks on the charts.
Harrdy Sandhu, with over 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify, has been pushing Punjabi music into the mainstream since his debut in 2012. His song Bijlee Bijlee, which featured actor Palak Tiwari in its music video, has crossed 250 million streams on the music platform. Over the past year, his music has also reached editorial playlists including New Music Hindi and Happy Vibes over the past year.
Paresh Pahuja, who made his film debut in Ali Abbas Zafar’s Tiger Zinda Hai, has built a parallel career in music since 2021 and now has more than 7 million monthly listeners. His track Dooron Dooron, which was released in 2022, has spent 42 consecutive weeks on Spotify's Weekly Top Songs India chart. Like Sandhu, Pahuja’s music has also featured across editorial playlists such as 1 AM Feels Hindi, New Music Hindi, and Mega Punjabi Hits over the past year.
Bringing Punjab’s sound to the rest of the country and the global stage, Rashmeet Kaur currently has over 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and is one of the genre's most eclectic voices. Earlier this year on May 14, she performed at Spotify’s first EQUAL Day in Mumbai, and has featured in playlists such as Trending Now Punjabi, Punjabi 101, EQUAL India, and I-Pop Icons.
Taaruk Raina is a personality who moves seamlessly between movies and music, and has performed in both. Most recently seen in the acclaimed Netflix series Operation Safed Sagar, the actor-singer has over a million monthly listeners and continues to build a strong following on Spotify. His 2022 song Kho Gaye from the Netflix romantic drama Mismatched 2, currently sits at over 200 million streams on the platform.
Spotify's Weekly Top Songs India chart features 12 I-Pop tracks that are currently part of the top 20 songs this week, showing just how consistently I-Pop artists are building and expanding their own base within a landscape that has up till now given more visibility to mainstream releases.
Dhruvank Vaidya, Head of Music and Podcast, Spotify India, shared his thoughts on the event, remembering the first I-Pop event that he felt revealed the fans’ real appetite to experience I-Pop artists perform live.
“But what stays with you isn't the numbers - it's watching fans sing back every word. With the second edition, we wanted to bring together artists who reflect the range of what I-Pop sounds like today, from Anuv Jain, whose 'Jo Tum Mere Ho' has spent over 100 consecutive weeks on our Weekly Top Songs India chart, to Rashmeet Kaur, one of the most exciting voices in the country right now. That’s what I-Pop Icons is about, and we’re committed to making that happen through our playlist ecosystem, artist content, and live experiences,” he says.
All five singers are part of Spotify’s larger bet on the ever-growing I-Pop movement. Since launching in August 2024, I-Pop Icons has gained over half a million followers in this short span of time. The playlist is also part of the Home of I-Pop hub on Spotify, a designated hub that unites I-Pop playlists for every mood and emotion, such as I-Pop Party, I-Pop Mohabbat, I-Pop Chill, I-Pop Sad Feels and more, along with those to stay in tune with biggest I-Pop hits and discover new artists, such as New Music Friday I-Pop, I-Pop Superhits and I-Pop Rising. Together, the hub has close to 2 million followers — a testament to how central artist-first music has become to India's music landscape.
While music itself is inherently timeless, what makes this moment in I-Pop worth celebrating is the experience of watching an audience from all walks of life connect over and confide in people, voices and messages they might have never found before.