# Indian Music Industry

The Indian Music Industry (IMI) is a trust that represents the recording industry distributors in India. It was founded on 28 February 1936, as Indian Phonographic Industry (IPI). It is the 2nd oldest music industry organisation in the world that was involved in protecting copyrights of music producers and supporting growth of music entertainment industry. In 1994, it was renamed as Indian Music Industry (IMI) and represented India at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). It is also registered with the West Bengal Societies Registration Act. All major music labels in India are part of this association.
IMI has its registered office in Kolkata and Administrative office in Mumbai working on the protection of the rights of music producers and preventing music piracy. It has also been instrumental in launching the IMMIES music awards in collaboration with MTV.
The Indian music industry is largely dominated by Indian film soundtracks, which account for nearly 80% of the country's music revenue, followed by Indi-pop. As of 2014, the largest Indian music record label is T-Series with up to 35% share of the Indian market, followed by Sony Music India (the largest foreign-owned label) with up to 25% share, and then Zee Music Company (which has a partnership with Sony). As of 2017, 216 million Indians use music streaming services such as YouTube, Hungama, Gaana and JioSaavn. T-Series has the world's most-viewed and the second most-subscribed YouTube channel.

## History

The industry was dominated by cassette tapes in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1990, India had annual cassette sales of 180 million units, including both legitimate and pirate sales. This made it the world's second largest cassette market, after the United States. By 1998, the industry had annual earnings of ₹12 billion ($291 million).
In the early 2000s, 49 million cassettes (including 16 million pirate tapes) were sold every month. Later in the 2000s, the industry transitioned to online streaming, bypassing CD and digital downloads.

## Criteria of certification levels

The Indian Music Industry has constituted different, awards to encourage and promote music. The approved scheme of gold/platinum disc standards effective for sound recordings of member companies released in one calendar year is as below:
* Sales of all types of carriers, whether vinyl records, audio cassettes, compact discs, MP3 compact discs, music videos (i.e. excluding home videos) or any other existing or future type of carrier is considered on the basis of one unit.
* If a sound recording contains a combination of two program, any program over half of its total duration can be weighted at 50%, of the sales of the sound recording of that program. Any program comprising less than half of the total duration of the sound recording will not be counted for the purpose of certification.
* Sales in domestic markets only will be considered for the calculation of sales of sound recording.
* The time-limit for achieving above sales in any category is one year from the release of the recording in India.
* Applications should be accompanied by a copy certified by the member's chartered accountant stating the date of release & the number of units sold, along with a letter from the managing director or CEO.

## Record charts
### International Top 20 Singles

IMI launched International Top 20 Singles chart, the first official music industry recognised record chart in India, on 21 June 2021. It ranks best-performing international singles in India based on streaming data from Amazon Music, Apple Music, and Spotify. The data is collected and aggregated by BMAT Music Innovators and chart is reviewed by IMI Charts committee. The first number-one song for the chart dated 21 June 2021, was "Butter" by BTS.

## Certification levels

India has separate scales for music recording certifications. Certifications are usually based on sales, like some other Asian countries. Like many other Asian countries, domestic repertoire accounts for the majority of the Indian music market. Like many other countries, sales requirements of music recording in India reduced due to music piracy, declining sales, and the rise of online streaming.

### Current

The following are the current certification levels, as of 2019.
| Release type | Singles | Singles | Albums | Albums |
| Release type | Gold | Platinum | Gold | Platinum |
| Hindi films | 120,000 | 240,000 | 75,000 | 150,000 |
| Regional films | 60,000 | 120,000 | 40,000 | 80,000 |
| Pop/Basic | 60,000 | 120,000 | 15,000 | 30,000 |
| Devotional | 50,000 | 100,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| Classical/Folk | 10,000 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 |
| International | 60,000 | 120,000 | 12,000 | 30,000 |
Single and album units are measured in terms of Track Equivalent (TE) and Album Equivalent (AE) units, respectively, which are equivalent to the following media units.
| Media unit(s) | Track Equivalent (TE) | Album Equivalent (AE) |
| Digital track download(s) | 1 | 10 |
| Digital album download | — | 1 |
| Physical album sale | — | 1 |
| CRBT (caller ring-back tones) (30 days) | 2 | 20 |
| Track streams | 100 | 1,000 |
| Video streams | 300 | 3,000 |

### Previous

Prior to the inclusion of music streaming in IMI certifications, the following certification levels were in use between 2007 and 2013.
Between 2007 and 2013 :
| Release type | Gold | Platinum |
| Hindi Films | 200,000 | 400,000 |
| Regional Films | 50,000 | 100,000 |
| Regional Basic | 25,000 | 50,000 |
| National Basic | 50,000 | 100,000 |
| Classical/Non-Classical | 15,000 | 30,000 |
| International | 4,000 | 6,000 |
The following certification levels were in use between 2000 and 2007.
Between 2000 and 2007 :
| Release type | Gold | Platinum |
| Hindi Films | 500,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Regional Films | 100,000 | 200,000 |
| Regional Basic | 60,000 | 120,000 |
| National Basic | 100,000 | 200,000 |
| Classical/Semi-Classical | 20,000 | 40,000 |
| International (2006–2007) | 10,000 | 20,000 |
| International (2000–2006) | 20,000 | 40,000 |
The following certification levels were in use up until 2000.
Up until 2000 :
| Release type | Gold | Platinum |
| Hindi films | 500,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Indian pop | 120,000 | 200,000 |
| Foreign | 30,000 | 60,000 |

## Best-selling albums
### By decade

| Decade | Year | Album | Language | Music director(s) | Lyricist(s) | Singer(s) | Sales |
| 1930s | 1939 | Aadmi | Hindi Marathi | Master Krishnarao | Munsi Aziz | Shanta Hublikar, Ram Marathe, Sundara Bai, Shahu Modhak | — |
| 1940s | 1949 | Barsaat | Hindi | Shankar Jaikishan | Hasrat Jaipuri, Shailendra, Ramesh Shashtri, Akhilesh, Jalal Malahabadi | Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh | — |
| 1950s | 1951 | Awaara | Hindustani | Shankar Jaikishan | Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri | Shamshad Begum, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, Mohammed Rafi | — |
| 1960s | 1964 | Sangam | Hindustani | Shankar Jaikishan | Shailendra, Hasrat Jaipuri | Vyjayanthimala, Mukesh, Lata Mangeshkar, Mahendra Kapoor, Mohammed Rafi | — |
| 1970s | 1973 | Bobby | Hindustani | Laxmikant–Pyarelal | Anand Bakshi, Vitthalbhai Patel | Lata Mangeshkar, Narendra Chanchal, Shailendra Singh, Manna Dey | 1,000,000 |
| 1970s | 1975 | Sholay | Hindustani | R. D. Burman | Anand Bakshi, Salim–Javed | Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar, Hema Malini, R. D. Burman | 1,000,000 |
| 1980s | 1983 | Young Tarang | Hindustani | Zoheb Hassan, Biddu | Nazia Hassan, Zoheb Hassan, Sehba Akhtar, Amit Khanna | Nazia Hassan, Zoheb Hassan | 40,000,000 |
| 1990s | 1990 | Aashiqui | Hindi | Nadeem–Shravan | Sameer, Madan Pal, Rani Malik | Kumar Sanu, Anuradha Paudwal, Udit Narayan, Nitin Mukesh | 20,000,000 |
| 1990s | 1995 | Bolo Ta Ra Ra.. | Punjabi | Jawahar Wattal | Daler Mehndi | Daler Mehndi | 20,000,000 |
| 1990s | 1995 | Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge | Hindi | Jatin–Lalit | Anand Bakshi | Lata Mangeshkar, Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan, Asha Bhosle, Abhijeet, Manpreet Kaur, Pamela Chopra | 20,000,000 |
| 2000s | 2000 | Mohabbatein | Hindi | Jatin–Lalit | Anand Bakshi | Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan, Shweta Pandit, Sonali Bhatawdekar, Ishaan | 5,000,000 |
| 2010s | 2010 | Komaram Puli | Telugu | A. R. Rahman | Chandrabose | A. R. Rahman, Vijay Prakash, Tanvi Shah, Shweta Mohan, Javed Ali, Shreya Ghoshal | 760,000 |