Tips Music Reports Financial Growth
Mumbai-headquartered Tips Music, formerly Tips Industries, has reported a surge in revenue in its latest fiscal quarter alongside an increase in its YouTube subscriber base.
The company also provided insights on its recent direct deal with TikTok to offer the Tips music catalog to users on the platform globally (excluding China and India).
Fiscal Quarter Highlights
For the third quarter of fiscal 2025 (calendar fourth quarter ending December 31, 2024), Tips reported revenue of INR 777 million which is equivalent to US$9.2 million at the average rate for the quarter. This signifies 20% growth compared to the same period last year.
Operating EBITDA reached INR 556 million ($6.6 million), reflecting an increase of 28% y/y, resulting in an operating EBITDA margin of 71.6% compared to 67% in the prior quarter.
Profit after taxes was reported at INR 442 million ($5.2 million), indicating an increase of 27% y/y, leading to a profit margin of 44.2% as opposed to 34.7% a year earlier.
Consistent with its usual practice, Tips did not provide guidance for the full fiscal year 2025, concluding on March 31, 2025.
Tips also reported 113 million YouTube subscribers, an increase from 108 million in the previous quarter. Total views on YouTube have reached 171.6 billion, marking a growth of 17% y/y.
In a press release to investors on Wednesday (January 22), Chairman and Managing Director of Tips, Kumar Taurani, announced the payment of interim dividends amounting to 3 Indian rupees (US$0.035) per share.
The company has declared interim dividends for each quarter of the current financial year, totaling INR 1.36 billion ($15.75 million) in distributions to shareholders, including share buybacks, since the fiscal year commenced in April 2024.
Taurani emphasized that this payout aligns with the company’s commitment to enhancing shareholder value.
CEO Hari Nair also commented on the company’s direct licensing agreement with TikTok, which was revealed in November, stating that the deal “will provide users worldwide with access to Tips Music’s diverse library of Bollywood classics and regional hits.”
He added that the company is witnessing “strong growth for our music on digital platforms.”
MBW understands that Tips’ previous agreement with TikTok was facilitated through Merlin, a digital rights agency that represents independent music companies.
The overarching licensing arrangement between TikTok and Merlin officially expired on October 31, following TikTok’s decision to forgo re-licensing negotiations with the organization, attributing it to “operational issues with Merlin in the past where music was delivered that lacked quality control for copyright.”
In a recent interview with HITS, Ole Obermann, global head of music business development at TikTok, confirmed that the platform has signed “several hundred” direct deals, including agreements with “major aggregators” managing “hundreds or even thousands of labels.”
Tips Music boasts a catalog comprising approximately 30,000 songs. During this quarter, the company released 116 new songs, comprising 40 film-related songs and 76 non-film songs.
“This quarter witnessed the release of popular tracks such as Jutti Kasuri from Gippy Grewal, Afghani Afim Hay from Tony Kakkar, and Thiyariyan from the film Hoshiar Singh by Satinder Sartaaj, all of which were well received by our audience,” stated Tips CEO Girish Taurani.
“We have a very exciting lineup of releases planned for 2025.”
Girish Taurani, Tips Music
In 2023, India registered slightly more than 1 trillion total on-demand music streams, encompassing both audio and video, compared to 1.454 trillion in the USA. However, streaming numbers in India have surged by over 46% this year, in contrast to a growth rate of approximately 12.7% in the USA.
Indian music has also seen substantial growth internationally. Global consumption of Indian music on Spotify experienced a dramatic increase of 2000% over five years, as reported by the streaming service, with an impressive 85% growth recorded just in 2023.
Domestically, “the increase in content consumption, driven by more accessible information, has been a key factor in the swift expansion of streaming audiences,” noted Kumar Taurani in an interview last year.
“With forecasts predicting an annual growth rate of 15-20%, we anticipate an industry boom that could potentially elevate the market size to over 1.5 billion US dollars within the next four to five years.”
India’s Tips Music reports 20% revenue jump in latest quarter
