Spotify's US catalogue is impressive but the collection in India isn't too far behind
Spotify's India launch has generated quite a bit of excitement and even though the service has an impressive set of features, it's only as good as its catalogue. There's no easy way to do an exhaustive comparison of all the songs on the service available in the US and to check if all of those are available in India, or vice versa. This is why we came up with a method to check if the most popular songs are on Spotify India.
We selected the top 20 bestselling albums of all time, top 20 songs from US' Billboard top 100, top 20 most played Indian songs from YouTube, 20 popular new Bollywood songs, and 20 video game soundtracks that we like. We checked if each of these 100 songs or albums is on Spotify US and then checked if they are available on Spotify India. Spotify is known to have a good collection of video game music, and that's why we added that category.
Our method is exhaustive enough to give most people an idea about what Spotify India has and what it does not. Spotify India's legal dispute with Warner is the reason behind some notable absences, but that doesn't apply to Indian music as much as it does to its international catalogue. We didn't check every song or band out there, so we can't definitively say that Spotify India is better or worse than US for everyone. However, we're confident that this piece will help most people decide whether they should switch to Spotify India or stick with either Spotify US or whichever other streaming service they use right now.
Wikipedia has a useful list of bestselling albums. We picked the top 20 from that list and checked Spotify US and Spotify India. All of the albums are available on the US version of the service, but Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Alanis Morissette, and Madonna's most popular albums are missing on Spotify India. This is possibly due to the legal dispute we mentioned earlier. You can check all the albums and their availability on Spotify via the following table.
| Artist | Album | Spotify US | Spotify India |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Jackson | Thriller | ✅ | ✅ |
| Eagles | The Greatest Hits 1971-75 | ✅ | ❌ |
| AC/DC | Back in Black | ✅ | ✅ |
| Pink Floyd | The Dark Side of the Moon | ✅ | ✅ |
| Whitney Houston | The Bodyguard | ✅ | ✅ |
| Meat Loaf | Bat Out of Hell | ✅ | ✅ |
| Eagles | Hotel California | ✅ | ❌ |
| Bee Gees | Saturday Night Fever | ✅ | ✅ |
| Fleetwood Mac | Rumours | ✅ | ❌ |
| Shania Twain | Come On Over | ✅ | ✅ |
| Led Zeppelin | Led Zeppelin IV | ✅ | ❌ |
| Adele | 21 | ✅ | ✅ |
| Alanis Morissette | Jagged Little Pill | ✅ | ❌ |
| The Beatles | 1 | ✅ | ✅ |
| ABBA | Gold: Greatest Hits | ✅ | ✅ |
| Guns N' Roses | Appetite for Destruction | ✅ | ✅ |
| Santana | Supernatural | ✅ | ✅ |
| Metallica | Metallica | ✅ | ✅ |
| Madonna | The Immaculate Collection | ✅ | ❌ |
| Celine Dion | Falling into You | ✅ | ✅ |
Billboard magazine's top 100 list is the definitive chart for the most popular music in the United States. We picked the top 20 songs from this list and the results are in the table below. Cardi B, Panic! At the Disco, Meek Mill, and YNW Melly are the notable omissions from Spotify India.
| Song | Artist | Spotify US | Spotify India |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Rings | Ariana Grande | ✅ | ✅ |
| Without Me | Halsey | ✅ | ✅ |
| Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) | Post Malone, Swae Lee | ✅ | ✅ |
| Thank U, Next | Ariana Grande | ✅ | ✅ |
| Please Me | Cardi B, Bruno Mars | ✅ | ❌ |
| Happier | Marshmello, Bastille | ✅ | ✅ |
| Sicko Mode | Travis Scott | ✅ | ✅ |
| Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored | Ariana Grande | ✅ | ✅ |
| High Hopes | Panic! At The Disco | ✅ | ❌ |
| Wow. | Post Malone | ✅ | ✅ |
| Middle Child | J. Cole | ✅ | ✅ |
| Eastside | benny blanco, Halsey, Khalid | ✅ | ✅ |
| Thotiana | Blueface | ✅ | ✅ |
| Murder On My Mind | YNW Melly | ✅ | ❌ |
| Going Bad | Meek Mill Featuring Drake | ✅ | ❌ |
| Money | Cardi B | ✅ | ❌ |
| A Lot | 21 Savage | ✅ | ✅ |
| Drip Too Hard | Lil Baby, Gunna | ✅ | ✅ |
| Girls Like You | Maroon 5 Featuring Cardi B | ✅ | ✅ |
| Better | Khalid | ✅ | ✅ |
Many Indians listen to music on YouTube because it's free and has pretty much every song that one could ask for. We picked the 20 most popular Indian songs from YouTube and found that all of them are on both Spotify US and Spotify India. Details in the table below.
| Song | Album/film/artist | Spotify US | Spotify India |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swag se Swagat | Tiger Zinda Hai | ✅ | ✅ |
| Mile ho Tum | Neha Kakkar | ✅ | ✅ |
| Lahore | Guru Randhawa | ✅ | ✅ |
| Laung Laachi Title Track | Laung Laachi | ✅ | ✅ |
| High Rated Gabru | Guru Randhawa | ✅ | ✅ |
| Zaroori Tha | Rahat Fateh Ali Khan | ✅ | ✅ |
| Kaala Chashma | Baar Baar Dekho | ✅ | ✅ |
| Badri Ki Dulhania | Badrinath Ki Dulhania | ✅ | ✅ |
| Nashe si Chadh Gayi | Befikre | ✅ | ✅ |
| Dil Diyan Gallan | Tiger Zinda Hai | ✅ | ✅ |
| Dilbar | Satyamev Jayate | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cheez Badi | Machine | ✅ | ✅ |
| Prada | Jass Manak | ✅ | ✅ |
| Daaru Badnaam | Kamal Kahlon, Param Singh | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cham Cham | Baaghi | ✅ | ✅ |
| Aankh Maarey | Simmba | ✅ | ✅ |
| Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo | Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo | ✅ | ✅ |
| Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga | Half Girlfriend | ✅ | ✅ |
| Bom Diggy Diggy | Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety | ✅ | ✅ |
| Made In India | Guru Randhawa | ✅ | ✅ |
The next step was to look for recent Indian songs that are popular in India right now. We compiled this list of songs from multiple sources including what we've heard on FM radio, iTunes top charts, and the songs played often on TV channels. We picked only one song per album or film, which means films such as Gully Boy have only one representative in the table below, in spite of having three songs that make the cut for this checklist. Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, Fraud Saiyaan, and Total Dhamaal emerged as the three missing albums on Spotify India. Oh yes, we threw in Daler Mehndi's Tunak Tunak Tun right at the end just for fun.
| Song | Album/artist/film | Spotify US | Spotify India |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apna Time Aayega | Gully Boy | ✅ | ✅ |
| Tera Ghata | Gajendra Yadav | ✅ | ✅ |
| Proper Patola | Namaste England | ✅ | ✅ |
| Tere Bin | Simmba | ✅ | ✅ |
| Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga | Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga | ✅ | ❌ |
| Leja Re | Dhvani Bhanushali | ✅ | ✅ |
| Makhna | Yo Yo Honey Singh | ✅ | ✅ |
| Coca Cola | Luka Chippi | ✅ | ✅ |
| Kya Baat Ay | Harrdy Sandhu | ✅ | ✅ |
| Mungda | Total Dhamaal | ✅ | ❌ |
| Nikle Currant | Jassi Gill, Neha Kakkar | ✅ | ✅ |
| She Move It Like | Badshaah | ✅ | ✅ |
| Chamma Chamma | Fraud Saiyaan | ✅ | ❌ |
| Mere Naam Tu | Zero | ✅ | ✅ |
| Chogada | Loveyatri | ✅ | ✅ |
| Gali Gali | KGF | ✅ | ✅ |
| Dilbaro | Raazi | ✅ | ✅ |
| Lamberghini | The Doorbeen | ✅ | ✅ |
| Kamariya | Mitron | ✅ | ✅ |
| Tunak Tunak Tun | Daler Mehndi | ✅ | ✅ |
There's no definitive list of the best video game soundtracks that everyone will agree on. Video game music data isn't as easily available as the other types of music mentioned in this article. That is why we picked our favourite video game soundtracks and checked if these are available on Spotify India and its US counterpart. Video game music is not easily available on streaming services because some publishers such as Square Enix prefer not to put their game soundtracks on streaming services. That's why there are more omissions than usual in the table below.
| Video game soundtrack | Spotify US | Spotify India |
|---|---|---|
| Chrono Trigger | ❌ | ❌ |
| Crypt of the Necrodancer (main album) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Super Meat Boy | ✅ | ✅ |
| VA-11-Hall-A | ✅ | ✅ |
| Stellaris | ✅ | ✅ |
| DMC 5's Devil Trigger | ✅ | ✅ |
| Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana | ✅ | ✅ |
| Final Fantasy VII | ❌ | ❌ |
| Mass Effect | ✅ | ❌ |
| Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | ❌ | ❌ |
| Castlevania | ❌ | ❌ |
| Street Fighter II | ✅ | ❌ |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | ✅ | ✅ |
| Deus Ex: Human Revolution | ❌ | ❌ |
| Undertale | ✅ | ✅ |
| VVVVVV | ✅ | ✅ |
| Final Fantasy XV | ❌ | ❌ |
| Nier Automata | ❌ | ❌ |
| Bastion | ✅ | ✅ |
| Persona 4 | ❌ | ❌ |
Does Spotify India have all the music you were looking for? If not, which music streaming service do you prefer? Let us know via the comments.
We discussed Spotify's India launch on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
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