It’s Time to Talk: Mental Health in the Indian Music Industry

Author: George Musgrave, Megha Balani, Oliver Durcan, Senjuti Maitra, Kripi MalviyaDate: 3 Sep 2026

Topics

Audience Development

Creative Careers

Digital Futures

Health and Safety

Reporting and Evaluation

India’s music industry is a vast and rapidly evolving ecosystem, spanning film and non-film music, live performance, recorded music, streaming, regional-language markets, and increasingly diverse digital pathways. As opportunities for musicians and music professionals expand, however, the sector continues to face significant challenges around career sustainability, unequal access, workplace safety, and the concentration of power.

The 2026 It’s Time to Talk report marks an important step in understanding these challenges, providing the first large-scale empirical study of mental health among musicians and music industry professionals living and working in India. Based on 706 respondents, the research represents the largest survey of mental health among musicians and music industry professionals in India to date.

The findings reveal a workforce experiencing substantial psychological strain. Anxiety, depression, psychological distress and suicide risk were all elevated within the sample, while younger workers, particularly those aged 25–29 and LGBTQIA+ respondents emerged as especially vulnerable. Crucially, the report suggests that these challenges cannot be understood solely as individual mental-health issues: they are closely connected to how people experience work, recognition, discrimination, safety and the possibility of building sustainable careers.

Read the full report here

Key Findings

Mental health challenges are widespread across the sector. 74.3% of respondents screened positive for psychological distress, while 38.7% screened positive for anxiety and 36.8% for depression. Red-flag psychological distress was up to 15× higher than available general-population estimates in India.
Suicide risk is particularly high. 58.6% of respondents screened as at-risk for suicide and 10% reported having made a suicide attempt. Among LGBTQIA+ respondents, 89% screened at-risk for suicide, while 19% reported a suicide attempt, making them the most vulnerable demographic identified in the study.
Young music workers face a particularly difficult career landscape. Respondents aged 25–29 recorded the highest levels of anxiety, depression, psychological distress and suicide risk across age groups. The report links this vulnerability to difficulties converting talent, commitment and investment in music into sustainable careers.
Discrimination, career success and workplace safety are strongly connected to mental health. Discrimination was associated with every mental-health outcome analysed. Respondents who did not feel successful were more likely to screen positive for anxiety, depression, psychological distress and suicide risk, while workplace sexual harassment was associated with approximately 1.5× higher suicide risk and 2.5× higher rates of suicide attempts.
Workplace sexual harassment is widespread. Half of all respondents reported experiencing workplace sexual harassment, rising to 64% among women and 65.9% among LGBTQIA+ respondents. The report stresses that this should not be treated solely as a women’s issue, particularly given the vulnerability observed among LGBTQIA+ workers.
A significant treatment gap remains. Between 28% and 35% of respondents experiencing the most serious mental-health challenges had never sought help, highlighting a substantial gap between psychological need and access to support.
The report frames the challenge as a wider “crisis of occupational possibility.” Beyond providing individual mental-health support, it calls for systemic changes that improve the ability of musicians to build sustainable careers. Its recommendations include subsidised mental-health support, safer reporting and anti-harassment infrastructure, peer support, early-career mentoring, business and income-diversification training, and broader definitions of career success.