iWorld
ShareChat, Moj sign multi-year music licensing deal with T-Series
Mumbai: Mohalla Tech-backed short video app Moj and social media platform ShareChat on Wednesday announced an exclusive multi-year agreement with T-Series. The partnership allows ShareChat and Moj to access an extensive catalogue of the music label’s Indian music library.
ShareChat and Moj were also the first in the Indian social media and short video landscape to strike a licensing agreement with T-Series last year. Moj and ShareChat COO & co-founder Farid Ahsan said “the partnership drives more value to the industry, supports more artists, and delivers an incredible creative experience to the users across India.”
“ShareChat and Moj have been a wonderful partner and they are a true long-term partner for us in the Indian short video space,” T-Series, managing director, Bhushan Kumar said. “This long-term license reciprocates both of our intent to support the creator economy and build a robust foundation for the creator-led content ecosystem in the country.”
Moj and ShareChat together, with a 340 million-strong monthly active user community and over 82 million creator community, represent a significant share of the internet population in India, a statement said.
“This is an important step forward and sets the standard in the Indian social media and short video space that acknowledges and respects the music industry.” T-Series, president, Neeraj Kalyan said. “With this continued commitment, ShareChat and Moj will bring more innovation and creativity for the Indian short video space an objective we share mutually. We are hopeful this would drive deeper engagements on the platforms and create a mutually benefitting partnership for years to come.”
e-commerce
Visa report tracks rise of India’s affluent, experience-led spending
Affluent base doubles to 130 lakh, travel 58 per cent of elite spends.
MUMBAI: In India’s new luxury playbook, it’s less about owning more and more about living better. A new whitepaper by Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) maps a decisive shift in India’s affluent economy, where spending is becoming more intentional, experience-led, and closely tied to personal identity rather than pure income growth.
Titled India’s Affluent Economy 2025–2026, the report draws on a Visa-commissioned Yougov study and VisaNet data across travel, dining, retail and lifestyle categories. The headline number is hard to miss: individuals earning over Rs 10 lakh annually have nearly doubled from 69 lakh to 130 lakh, significantly expanding the country’s discretionary spending base.
But it’s not just about scale, it’s about behaviour. As consumers move up the affluence ladder, discretionary categories are taking a larger share of credit card spends, positioning cards as key enablers of premium, lifestyle-driven consumption.
The geography of wealth is shifting too. Affluence is no longer confined to metros such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, with cities like Ahmedabad, Surat, Jaipur and Lucknow increasingly mirroring metro consumption patterns.
The report highlights a clear pivot from ownership to access. More than 50 per cent of affluent consumers now use cards for elite memberships, while 7 in 10 are drawn to limited-edition drops and curated collections. Increasingly, luxury is defined by seamless access be it concierge-led travel or curated dining where time saved is as valuable as money spent.
Spending patterns reinforce this shift. Among the ultra-elite, travel accounts for 58 per cent of discretionary spends, far outpacing retail and luxury combined at 28 per cent. Cross-border spending penetration stands at 63 per cent, signalling a growing global outlook among India’s affluent.
Closer home, indulgence is becoming routine. Nearly 4 in 5 affluent consumers dine at premium establishments at least three times a year, while 1 in 4 visit luxury venues more than five times annually. Dining spends are also climbing, with Rs 20,000 emerging as a new entry-level benchmark per experience and Rs 50,000 marking premium territory.
Retail, meanwhile, is becoming more selective. Three in four affluent consumers make a high-end purchase at least once a quarter, while one in four shops premium every two weeks. Luxury retail intensity is also rising, with 2 in 5 consumers spending over Rs 5 lakh annually, and a smaller but significant segment exceeding Rs 10 lakh.
Technology and wellness are carving out new roles in this ecosystem. High-end gadgets now see average spends of Rs 60,000 or more per purchase, while ultra-elite consumers are eight times more likely to visit spas and show five times higher engagement with cosmetic stores than non-affluent groups.
The broader takeaway is structural. Affluent consumers are no longer buying products, they are buying ecosystems. Integrated experiences across travel, dining, wellness and payments are becoming central to how this segment lives and spends.
As India’s affluent base expands beyond metros and aligns more closely with global consumption patterns, the real opportunity lies not just in size, but in speed. For brands, the message is clear: relevance will be defined by how early and how seamlessly, they plug into this evolving lifestyle economy.
