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Today we do a deep dive into the history of T-Series and how it grew to take over the Indian music industry. Speaking of music, we asked PopShift Holi what their favorite Bollywood songs are, and the answers didn’t disappoint. Lastly, we shine an important light on the ongoing issues in Punjab.

— Rosh

How T-Series Took Over the Indian Music Industry

The Indian subcontinent is filled with underdog success stories. Everyone from the diaspora parents who immigrated here with “just $18 dollars in my pocket,” to the infamous story of industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani, who was born into humble means but died one of Asia’s top billionaires. However, few stories are as compelling or twisted as Gulshan Kumar’s – the founder of India’s biggest record label, T-Series.

Kumar’s earliest career was as a fruit juice seller in Delhi, until he created Super Cassettes Industries – T-Series – in 1983. The company originally started as an avenue in which to sell pirated versions of existing Bollywood songs, but Kumar soon got into producing as well. By taking advantage of loopholes in India’s copyright laws, a habit they’re criticized for today, T-Series became a force in the music industry with their quickly expanding catalog of new covers, Bollywood soundtracks, and devotional songs.

It was the release of the “Aashiqui” soundtrack in 1990 that really established T-Series as a leading record label, though. Known as the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of all time, over 20 million cassette tapes were sold. T-Series continued to grow and produce many of the ‘90s’ best-selling Bollywood music albums, but in 1997, the record label was struck with tragedy.

Kumar, its beloved founder, was assassinated in broad daylight while exiting a mandir in Mumbai. His murder is believed to be the result of a dispute over the music rights to a popular film, and was carried out by Mumbai’s most notorious mafia syndicate – D-Company. Kumar’s death sent shockwaves not just through the music industry, but India as a whole. Many of T-Series’ most prolific musicians abandoned the production company after, which left its successor, Kumar’s oldest son, Bhushan Kumar, in a precarious position.

Despite the challenges and grief, the younger B. Kumar is responsible for taking T-Series to the heights it enjoys now. At present, T-Series holds a 35% monopoly over the Indian music industry entirely. Much of this growth comes from the last decade itself, as the record label was quick to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of music distribution. Leveraging the digital age and media platforms to their advantage, their audience soon grew exponentially, with their online revenue contributing to 60% of their overall revenue.

Today, T-Series is the most subscribed-to YouTube account with 238M+ fans. Few channels can boast having so many of their videos break into hundreds of millions of views. Their most viewed video to date is Nora Fatehi’s sizzling performance in “Dilbar,” at 1.2B views currently. Their most popular artist is Punjabi singer Guru Randhawa. His collaboration with Pitbull on “Slowly Slowly” became one of the most-viewed music videos in 24 hours, at 38M views within a day of its release.

The company is an undeniable mammoth on YouTube and across Indian entertainment entirely. Still, they cannot avoid controversy. Today T-Series is criticized for its lack of creativity and innovation in the space, and is also plagued with plagiarism accusations from smaller artists who can’t legally compete against the giant. You can read about their most recent one here.

While we can continue to question their practices today, no one can doubt the impact T-Series has had on the music industry entirely. They’re credited with popularizing Indian music on a global scale, and remain consistently topping the music charts with their massive hits. Whether you love it or hate it, T-Series is sticking around.

PopShift Holi: What’s Your Favorite Bollywood Song?

It was probably produced by T-Series…

Help us expand our newsletter! We’re looking for writers and new music to share.

Eyes on Punjab

What is happening?

Following the arrest of Amritpal Singh, among other Sikh leaders, the Indian government has enforced unlawful practices in Punjab.

• Internet and media blackouts

• Suspended civil liberties

• Censorship of activist accounts and media

• Incidents of police brutality

• Mass arrests without due process

Punjab and the larger Sikh community have historically faced a disproportionate amount of violence and political turmoil in India. Events like such can be a triggering reminder of community intergenerational trauma.

If struggling, Sikh Your Mind is a mental health and wellbeing nonprofit organization that works intentionally with the Punjabi-Sikh community.

Other Notable News

• Raf-Saperra’s new tape, “Ruff Around the Edges,” secured a Top 10 spot on Spotify Top Albums Debut UK.

• The Biden administration is threatening to potentially ban TikTok.

• Josh Sahunta released a new track, “I Will Wait for You.”

• Jai Wolf is releasing a new track, Want It All, tomorrow.

• Ranjah released a new track, “Frooti.”

• Indo-Warehouse sold out the Avant Gardner again for their first show of the year in NYC.

Listen to the PopShift Playlist on Spotify.