YouTube emerges as crucial revenue layer for India’s music labels, SMBs, media cos

New Delhi: Beyond individual creators, YouTube positions itself as an essential revenue and discovery layer for music labels, media companies and small businesses. The report shows how deeply the platform is now embedded in India’s cultural and commercial fabric.

YouTube has said its creative ecosystem contributed more than Rs 16,000 crore to India’s GDP and supported over 9.3 lakh full-time equivalent jobs in 2024, as the Google-owned platform doubles down on India with a fresh commitment of Rs 850 crore for creators, artists and media partners over the next two years.

The numbers are part of YouTube’s new “Impact in India” report, prepared with Oxford Economics, which positions the platform as “the home for India’s creativity” and a key driver of new-age studios, creator-led businesses and branded content in the market.

In a foreword to the report, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says the platform has “fundamentally reshaped how we watch and create entertainment” and calls India’s creator base “Creator Nation”, with more viewers, advertisers and monetisation options than ever before. He notes that for over a decade, the total amount YouTube has paid creators globally has grown every year, with the pace accelerating in the last three years.

92% of music companies with a YouTube channel call it an important revenue source, 82% say it helps them reach audiences worldwide, and 81% say it is critical for breaking new artists.

For small businesses, the platform is no less consequential. Nearly 70% of SMBs with a YouTube presence say the platform has played a role in growing their revenue, turning everything from local boutiques to regional service providers into discoverable, content-led brands.

Media companies, too, rely heavily on YouTube for reach and agility. According to the report, 74% of media organisations say YouTube helps them tap new audiences globally, while 72% find it especially valuable for distribution during breaking news cycles and high-pressure moments.

For brands, this positions YouTube as the connective tissue of the modern content economy: a single ecosystem where music labels, creators, newsrooms and small businesses share the same discovery rails. It is also where how-to videos, behind-the-scenes edits, long-form storytelling, Shorts and commerce-enabled content can all coexist under one roof.

The report also highlights YouTube Shopping, fan-funding tools and recommendation systems as drivers of direct sales and brand awareness, arguing that these capabilities, in combination, are hard to replicate elsewhere.

Shared culture and knowledge: YouTube as soft power

The impact report goes beyond economics to make a soft power argument, claiming that Indian creators are exporting culture, education and news at scale.

On culture, YouTube says 72% of users rely on its recommendations to discover diverse creators and 71% believe the platform helps preserve local history and culture. Indian channels across music, food, craft, language and fashion are framed as custodians of regional identities that now travel globally.

On knowledge and news, 98% of users report using YouTube to gather information and knowledge, while 70% say the platform provides equal opportunities for everyone to learn and grow. Half the users surveyed have searched for news on YouTube; of these, 82% feel they can find information from credible, trusted sources and 73% say YouTube was helpful during critical moments such as crises.

The education section is particularly relevant for long-term brand building in EdTech and learning content. According to the report, 97% of teachers who use YouTube say they have used its content in lessons or assignments, 93% believe it helps students continue learning outside the classroom, and 91% say it increases student engagement. Among parents using YouTube or YouTube Kids, around three-quarters feel it helps their children discover the world, fill education gaps and find a sense of community.

Rs 21,000 crore paid to Indian creators in three years

According to the report, YouTube has paid out more than Rs 21,000 crore to creators, artists and media companies in India over the last three years, powered by the YouTube Partner Programme (YPP) that shares 55% of advertising and subscription revenue with eligible channels.

The platform now offers nine monetisation avenues, ranging from ads and YouTube Premium to Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks, channel memberships, BrandConnect, ticketing and YouTube Shopping.

Roughly 63% of creators who earn money from YouTube say it is their primary source of revenue. In 2024, more than 65,000 Indian channels earned over Rs 1 lakh, signalling the scale at which YouTube has moved from “side hustle” to mainline income for creators across genres.

YouTube has also tied its India growth story to policy outreach. The report underlines its participation in the government’s World Audio Visual and Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, where the platform positioned itself as a long-term partner to India’s media and entertainment ambitions and formalised the US$100 million (around Rs 850 crore) investment to “accelerate the growth of Indian creators, artists and media partners”.

From Crazy XYZ to Labour Law Advisor: creators as businesses

The report leans heavily on case studies to show how individual channels have scaled into full-fledged businesses with brand deals, product lines and teams, moving well beyond AdSense-only models.

Crazy XYZ: IIT Roorkee graduate Amit Sharma’s science and experiment channel has 33.9 million subscribers and 10.1 billion views. YouTube accounts for about 90% of his income through AdSense and brand sponsorships, enabling him to build a 30-member team, invest in a 61,000 sq ft studio and launch Crazino science kits.

Tech creator Shreemani Tripathi: With 12.8 million subscribers and 4.4 billion views, she moved from digital marketing and scriptwriting to full-time YouTube, carved a niche as a female tech voice and now relies primarily on brand deals, supported by AdSense and affiliate marketing.

Hanumankind: The rapper and songwriter credits YouTube for turning music from a side passion into a global-facing career. His channel, with 2.7 million subscribers and over 522 million views, took off after the “Big Dawgs” music video in 2024, showing how YouTube can be both a distribution engine and a launchpad for high-concept music videos.

Wellness creator Fit Tuber (Vivek Mittal): The former Central Excise Inspector runs one of India’s most-followed wellness channels with 8.1 million subscribers and over 1 billion views, offering free videos funded by AdSense and sponsorships. He positions his content as practical, research-backed advice rooted in Indian traditions, aimed at everyday audiences rather than gym-going elites.

Labour Law Advisor: Co-founded by Rishabh Jain and Mandeep Gill, the channel has 5.31 million subscribers and 1.86 billion views and focuses on labour laws, social security benefits and personal finance. Starting as a niche explainer for EPF, ESI and gratuity, it now anchors a broader business spanning online courses, the Jagruk Journal stationery line and multiple brand collaborations, with a 30+ member team.

Mindfulness creator Anita Bokepalli: A former offshore oil rig professional, she runs a 713k-subscriber channel around yoga, conscious eating and lifestyle transformation. YouTube contributes 100% of her income via AdSense, sponsorships and online yoga classes, with Shorts and browse features driving discovery.

Across these stories, a common thread is visible: creators begin with simple, low-production videos, hit inflection points with one or two breakthrough uploads, and then build multi-revenue businesses where brand content, affiliate marketing, products and classes sit on top of YouTube’s ad monetisation.

What it signals for brands and the creator–content play

For marketers and agencies, the report is both positioning and pitch. The topline GDP and jobs impact numbers are intended to cement YouTube’s role as infrastructure, not just inventory. The granular case studies, however, are where the BuzzInContent lens kicks in.

Creators like Crazy XYZ, Fit Tuber and Labour Law Advisor are no longer just “influencers” but category educators with built-in trust and recurring formats: science experiments that make brand integrations feel like spectacle; wellness videos that can carry long-term partnerships in food and health; and personal finance explainers that can turn complex products into actionable decisions.

The signal to brands is clear: think beyond one-off influencer bursts and build IP, utilities and series with creators whose channels already function as mini media companies. The Rs 850-crore commitment, combined with expanding monetisation tools and AI production features, suggests YouTube will keep nudging Indian creators towards more professionalised content businesses, giving advertisers a deeper bench of partners to work with.

For India’s creator economy, the report formalises what the ecosystem has felt anecdotally for years: YouTube is not just a video platform, but a stack of monetisation, discovery and learning tools that can underwrite sustainable careers. For branded content, it underlines that the most effective stories in 2024 and beyond will come from creators who treat their channels as companies, and from brands that are willing to co-build that journey, not just rent it for a campaign.