Diljit Dosanjh: The Punjabi Superstar Redefining Indian Music’s Global Reach:

Until recently, India’s music industry has predominantly been centered around Bollywood, with its films flashy soundtracks. At the forefront of this shift is India’s new global music sensation. Punjab-born singer, actor, and producer, 41-year-old Diljit Dosanjh is redefining the rules of the game in what is the fastest-growing market in the world. Through his unparalleled fusion of hip-hop, rap, and pop, which features astonishing collaborations with superstars Ed Sheeran and Sia, Dosanjh is tearing down convention while building an immense fan base in the process.

Dosanjh appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last summer, where he was introduced to the world as ‘the biggest Punjabi performer on the planet.’ He wowed the audiences with his singles G.O.A.T. and Born to Shine. According to Warner Music Group, his 2024 tours sold an astonishing 742,000 tickets. This makes it the largest tour ever conducted by an Indian artist. During the European and North American legs, which brought in over $44 million dollars, 346,000 fans attended.

“Indian music includes much more that just Bollywwod,” said Dosanjh, who sings in Punjabi, during a phone interview while he was on tour in the Middle East. “It is sad that non-Indians have not been introduced to Indian folk music since the only portion of Indian music shared on a global scale is commercial Bollywood music.”

His unique combination of styles along with his charming personality and social media presence has greatly benifitted Indian music industry, and proved to be a winning gamble for Dosanjh’s label, Warner Music, which expanded to India in 2020.

Although India is the 14th largest market for recorded music, lagging behind the United States and Japan, the contribution of Indians to the global streaming services has increased due to the younger generation, who are more exposed to the digital world. The Indian community, which is believed to be approximately 35 million, mostly settled around North America, UK, and the Middle East, is one of the foremost contributors to the demand in Indian music streams and concerts. “According to Spotify, consumption of music from India is expected to surge by over 2000 percent between 2019 and 2024.”

There is still potential for development says Jay Mehta, managing director to Warner Music India. He says the Indian music industry is poised to increase its valuation by two times within the next three or four years. Mehta has been pairing Indian singers with the labels international superstars such as Coldplay and One Republic to promote their exposure globally.

People's preferences have changed as well. As of the start of 2019 Spotify estimates suggested that nearly 70 percent of all music streamed on the app by Indian users was international music, now that figure is reversed with only 30 percent of the music being local. Punjabi music is incredibly popular not only in India, but globally as well. Dosanjh is partly responsible for that.

Mehta further stated, “Over the last four years, there has been a significant shift from a soundtrack-first to a singer-first approach.”

This turn fits perfectly for Dosanjh. He is one of those social media celebrities for whom TikTok and Youtube are platforms to share hilarious and heartwarming videos that invite active participation from his followers. His online persona is deeply patriotic, humorous, and personal at the same time, which makes him very relatable. In fact, he is so passionate about cooking that he shares videos of himself making coffee or even frying eggs. He knows that his broken English prevents him from reaching a larger audience, but still, he was able to get Sheeran to sing a little in Punjabi with him. He makes use of his brand by reposting users' content that makes them famous, like the dance challenge for his new single “Water” which turned into a viral sensation.

"Any song I create can become a global hit in just a few hours and this is made possible with the internet and social media," said Dosanjh.

The popularity of the likes of Dosanjh is a good example of the superfan phenomenon in India. Mehta is showing enthusiasm for Dosanjh and Hindi rapper King brought in from the K-pop superfan BTS ARMY. One of the ARMY recruiters was taken by Warner Music to lead social communication activities between the company’s performers and their fans, so now Dosanjh has a sponsor.

This artist-centric paradigm is fostering interaction with fans who stream music and purchase tickets to watch their favorite artists perform live. The events industry is expanding rapidly in India. The country hosted over 30,000 concerts last year and as per a report by EY, ticket sales have over taken sponsorship revenue which is a shift from the model prior to the pandemic.

Dosanjh is referred to as having a “soulful” voice, and his energetic, lively, and interactice performances have earned him a massive fan base.

His performance in 2023 at Coachella was a first, and shifted the focus to Indian, non-Bollywood music on a global platform. He was the first performer at the festival to sing exclusively in Punjabi. “The beauty of music is that it is a sound, and a force, that can never be boxed into a single genre or category,” he explained.

Since then, he has worked together with the Australian artist Sia on the Punjabi song ‘Hass Hass’ that gave a boost to both of their careers in their respective countries. Sheeran was a special guest at Doasdnjh’s concert in Birmingham and surprised the audience with a remix of their collaboration song ‘Nania x Shape of You.’\n\nDoasdnjh is also known for acting. His most notable works are the Udta Punja action crime film from 2016, and a biographical drama called Amar Singh Chamkila about a Hindi singer both on Netflix along with the romantic comedy Shadaa on Amazon Prime Video.\n\nDosanjh has garner high popularity and wealth making him influential back in India. In an interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year, he suggested the idea of hosting a worldwide music festival in India which would surpass Coachella.\n\nThe launch of streaming services such as Spotify in India, the second largest nation for English speakers in the world, has been instrumental for India in upgrading the level of entertainment they produce. Ashish Pherwani, who is head at EY India in the Media and entertainment sector, said that, with a variety of Indian music available, the number of countries with Indian songs topping their streams is increasing.

Pherwani stated, “There’s more acceptance of Indian music that’s happening right now.” “That's just the tip of the iceberg. There is, to be honest, considerably more that can be done with Indian content. Five years ago, it had been a predominantly diaspora-focused industry, but that is changing now.”