'Mirzapur: The Movie' Becomes The First Hindi Film Album Released To Paying Subscribers First

The soundtrack to Mirzapur: The Movie arrived on 1 September, three days before the film opened in cinemas, and it came with a catch. The album went first to premium subscribers on music streaming services in India. Listeners on free, ad-supported tiers had to wait.

That makes it the first Bollywood album released through Universal Music India's "Hear It First" initiative, which gives paying users early access to major new releases. It was also one of the first releases on Excel Music, the label that Excel Entertainment launched in August with Universal as a strategic shareholder.

A franchise moves to the big screen

Mirzapur spent three seasons as a streaming crime series before Excel took it to theatres. The film brings back Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyenndu, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Rasika Dugal, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Abhishek Banerjee, and adds Jitendra Kumar and Ravi Kishan. It was scheduled for release on 4 September.

On the music side, the album's lead single brought in Haryanvi rapper Dhanda Nyoliwala for his Hindi film debut, and his "Do Numbari" from the album was one of eight Nyoliwala tracks on Spotify's India Top Songs chart in September.

Why a producer agreed to it

Film producers usually want their songs everywhere at once. Opening-week buzz sells tickets, and a song that is hard to find is a song that is not trending. Excel's decision to hold the album back from free tiers, even briefly, is an unusual one.

Vishal Ramchandani, chief executive of Excel Entertainment, framed it as an industry play. "Building a stronger paid music ecosystem is important for the long-term growth of the Indian music industry," he said in a statement. "'Hear It First' gives fans another reason to subscribe while creating greater value for artists, labels and the entire ecosystem."

He added that Excel wanted Excel Music "to be at the forefront of initiatives that help grow and strengthen the industry".

The window sits inside Universal's wider policy, in force since the end of August, of releasing new music to paid subscribers for 72 hours before it reaches free tiers. Owning a stake in Excel Music gave Universal a high-profile Hindi film album to test that policy on.

Whether other producers follow will depend on what the numbers show. A three-day delay is short. For a soundtrack, though, it covers the release window that matters most.

(Source: official press release, Spotify India statement)