A handful of Indian acts appear on international DSPs’ picks of the artists to watch in 2026. Three are on Amazon Music’s list of “emerging artists it expects to make an impact in 2026”, singer-songwriters Kushagra—whose single ‘Finding Her was one of 2025’s highest-streamed songs—and Naalayak, and Tamil rapper Vengayo, the last of whom is among the acts selected by the platform to create Amazon Originals, which have been recorded exclusively for the campaign. In Vengayo’s case, it’s a new take on a release from last year. The MC contributes a “reimagined version” of his breakthrough track ‘Chikkama’.

While no acts from the region appear on Spotify’s artists to watch list, which are categorised by genre, Canadian-Indian producer Ikky is part of their “Songwriters To Watch 2026 class, a group of standout songwriters and writer-producers poised to define the sound of the year ahead”. Ikky had a pretty good 2025, enjoying multiple chart successes through his collaborations with Karan Aujla. Those included tracks from Aujla’s album P-Pop Culture and the remix of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Symmetry’ on which singer-rapper features.

Finally, Hindi pop girl group WisH appears on the Apple Music-owned Shazam’s Fast Forward, which “takes a look ahead at some of the most exciting talent being discovered” on the platform. US-based Indian-origin electronic music duo Baalti also made the Class of 2026, which is put together based on “Shazam’s predictive data and the expertise of Apple Music’s global editorial team”.