East & South Asia
The sound of India
Film music is the mainstream here — not a genre adjacent to pop but the whole centre of it, with composers as the stars. The Carnatic and Hindustani classical traditions run in parallel and on a completely different timescale.
258 artists in the catalog.
What India does that nowhere else does
Genres far more common here than across the rest of the catalog. The multiplier is how much more common, weighted by how many artists carry it.
Five records to start with
Not a canon — a way in. Each one links to what it is, who it's for and where to go next.
Indian artists worth walking into
Ordered by how much we can tell you, not just by how well-known they are.
A. R. Rahman
Carnatic music · Indian classical music
Where to start →Ilaiyaraaja
Where to start →Devi Sri Prasad
Carnatic music · filmi music
Where to start →Zubeen Garg
Indian folk music · Indian pop
Where to start →Diljit Dosanjh
bhangra · filmi music
Where to start →Sonu Nigam
Carnatic music · Hindustani classical music
Where to start →Gippy Grewal
bhangra · filmi music
Where to start →Malkit Singh
bhangra
Where to start →Amrinder Gill
Where to start →Yuvan Shankar Raja
Where to start →Zakir Hussain
Hindustani classical music · jazz
Where to start →M. M. Keeravani
film score
Where to start →