During Universal Music Group’s recent earnings call, Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge announced a big change coming to India. UMG’s new releases in the country will be available exclusively to paying streaming subscribers for the first 72 hours. On the third day after their release, they will become available on ad-supported streaming tiers and services.

“Beginning at the end of August, UMG’s new releases from major domestic and international artists will be launched exclusively to paid streaming subscribers for their first 72 hours on both global and regional streaming services,” said Grainge. “After that, they will become available on ad-supported services too.”

“Fans will still have access to the music they love, and artists will see the benefit of improved compensation. China has shown what’s possible when healthier music ecosystems take hold. We want India to follow a similar path and believe many other potential markets will do too.”

“[S]uperfans represent one of the greatest opportunities to help artists build longer, more valuable careers,” Grainge added. “Today’s biggest fans want more than just the music. They want community, physical products, and deeper relationships with the artists they love.”

Interestingly, while this is a change that hasn’t yet arrived stateside, UMG first tried a paywalled strategy in China in 2019. The success of the strategy in China led to UMG expanding it to India. Eventually, such a change could make its way to the U.S., but Spotify would likely see a huge loss—at least initially—given the sheer number of ad-supported users the platform has in the country.

China became the world’s fourth-largest recorded music market in 2025, surpassing Germany with revenue growth of over 20% year-over-year, driven by both premium subscriptions and superfan experiences. According to IFPI, that makes China the fastest-growing market in its global Top 20.

Grainge said that this year, China is now the world’s second-largest digital music market after the United States.

“China has shown what’s possible when healthier music ecosystems take hold,” Grainge concluded. “We want India to follow a similar path and believe many other high-potential markets will too.”