India's expanding audio streaming industry is increasingly shifting to a hybrid model that combines free, ad-supported model with premium subscriptions as platforms push for sustainable monetisation after years of prioritising scale.Global streaming services such as Amazon Music, Spotify and YouTube Music, alongside homegrown platforms like JioSaavn are betting on paid subscriptions while retaining free tiers to drive user acquisition and engagement. Gaana, meanwhile, has moved entirely to a paid model.The shift comes amid a market shakeout marked by the shutdown of services such as Resso, Wynk Music, and Hungama Music, underscoring the challenges of monetising music streaming in a low average revenue per user (ARPU) market.Also Read: Spotify launches 'narrated articles' from publications like The Atlantic, VogueAmazon Music is the latest platform to double down on the strategy. Nearly eight years after launching in India as a bundled Prime benefit, Amazon Music is moving beyond its Prime-only roots with a three-tier offering as the company aggressively bets on India becoming a 100 million paid audio subscriber market within the next decade.In one of its biggest product pivots in the Indian market, Amazon Music will launch a free ad-supported service, introduce limited advertising within Prime Music, and roll out Amazon Music Unlimited (AMU), a premium subscription priced at Rs 99 per month for Prime members and Rs 119 for non-Prime users.The move marks Amazon Music's push beyond the Prime ecosystem at a time when the country's audio streaming market is entering a new phase focused on monetisation and subscriber growth."We don't want music to be restricted to Prime,” Rishabh Gupta, country head, Amazon Music India, told ET. “We want almost every Indian to have access to music," he said, describing the market as being at the cusp of a "hockey-stick growth" phase.Also Read: Amazon Music widens India play beyond Prime amid audio streaming shakeoutIndustry executives believe India's next phase of growth will be led by affordable subscription plans rather than premium-priced offerings."The fact of life is somebody has to shut the free supply and make pay on an affordable basis,” Vikram Mehra, managing director at Saregama said on a quarterly earnings call last month. “India is not a $5 market. Any company that tries that is going to burn itself here. India is a $1-1.5 kind of market, but you can easily generate a number of 100 million.”The shift towards subscriptions is already reflecting in platform revenues.Spotify India's subscription revenue jumped 89% to Rs 317 crore in FY25 as the industry continued to tighten free consumption and push paid plans. Advertising revenue rose 38.5% to Rs 187 crore during the fiscal year.Mehra said the industry has moved beyond the disruption phase that saw several platforms exit the market. "We are completely out of the cycle of free platforms shutting down, and that has started showing in the growth numbers of our music vertical," he said.Amazon believes both free and paid models will continue to coexist, with free services driving discovery and scale while subscriptions generate long-term revenue. "We are very bullish,” said Gupta. “India will be a 100 million paying subscriber market in about 10 years.”According to a FICCI-EY report, India's music industry revenues stood at Rs 5,900 crore in 2025 and is projected to grow 9% compounded annually over the next three years, fuelled by smartphone penetration, growth in paid subscriptions, catalogue monetisation, digital advertising and platform-led distribution.Despite the rapid growth in streaming consumption, subscription penetration remains low. At around 3%, India's music subscription penetration is among the lowest globally, leaving significant room for expansion.FICCI-EY estimates that music streaming reached about 178 million users in 2025, who consumed 5.8 trillion streams, a 15% increase over 2024. Paid subscribers grew 37% to 14 million, boosted by industry wide efforts to curb free music consumption and encourage paid listening.