Glossary / Indian music

Industry terms

Devotional music

Devotional music is music made for worship and spiritual listening, like bhajans, aartis, kirtans and mantras, and it is one of India's largest music categories.

Also called: bhakti music, bhajans, aarti, mantra

By Aulto · Last reviewed

Who listens to devotional music?

A wide audience across languages and ages, often daily: morning prayers, temple visits and festivals. Many listeners never search for film or pop music but play devotional tracks every day.

When does it peak?

Around festivals and holy days, such as Navratri, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali and Shivratri, and early in the morning.

What helps a devotional release?

Releasing ahead of the right festival, clear language and deity names in the title and metadata, and a lyrical video, since many listeners sing along.

Example

A Telugu devotional label releases a set of Ganesh bhajans a week before Ganesh Chaturthi, with lyrical videos for each.

  • Regional language release

    A regional language release is music in one of India's many languages, such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi or Punjabi, released to reach listeners in that language.

  • Lyrical video

    A lyrical video is a video that shows a song's lyrics on screen as it plays, the Indian music industry's go-to first video for a new song.

  • Metadata

    Metadata is the information attached to a release: title, artist names, credits, language, genre, release date and codes like the ISRC and UPC.

  • Caller tune

    A caller tune (CRBT, caller ring back tune) is a song people hear instead of the ringing sound when they call someone, set by the person being called.

  • Non-film music

    Non-film music is Indian music made outside the film industry, such as indie, pop, rap and singles released on their own, rather than songs written for films.

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