Tips Music grew revenue by 21% year-over-year in the three months to June 30, the first quarter of its fiscal 2027 (calendar Q2).
The Mumbai-headquartered Bollywood music company’s after-tax profit fell over the same period, declining 4% as the cost of acquiring new music jumped 90%.
That spending pulled Tips‘ operating EBITDA margin down to 50.3%, from 64.2% a year earlier and 74.0% in the preceding quarter.
Tips reported revenue of ₹1.065 billion (USD $11.3 million at the average exchange rate for the quarter) for Q1, up from ₹881 million a year earlier, according to an investor release issued on Wednesday (July 22).
Content cost for the quarter reached ₹446 million ($4.7 million), up 90% from ₹235 million in the same period last year, and up 228% from the ₹136 million spent in the preceding quarter.
After-tax profit came in at ₹439 million ($4.6 million), down from ₹457 million a year earlier, while operating EBITDA slipped 5% to ₹535 million ($5.7 million).
The margin decline was a matter of timing, Tips said.
Tips writes off the full cost of new releases in the quarter they come out, while the revenue those releases generate arrives over the following years.
“Please note that as per our conservative accounting policy, we have expensed the entire content cost of the new releases in this quarter, while the corresponding revenue started coming from mid-month of May only,” Chief Financial Officer Sushant Dalmia told analysts on the company’s earnings call.
Kumar Taurani, Chairman and Managing Director of Tips Music, said: “In Q1 FY27, the Company’s revenue increased 21% over last year to reach ₹106.5 crore. Our investment in content increased by 90%.”
“The performance was supported by healthy contributions from both digital and non-digital segments.”
Kumar Taurani, Tips Music
“The performance was supported by healthy contributions from both digital and non-digital segments,” Taurani added. “Reinforcing our commitment to enhancing shareholder value, the Company has called for a separate Board meeting to consider buy-back of shares.”
Tips released 73 songs during the quarter, comprising 55 film tracks and 18 non-film tracks.
The company said its film soundtrack Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai crossed 186 million YouTube views, while Main Vaapas Aaunga reached nearly 100 million.
“During Q1 FY 2027, we released 73 songs, including 55 film songs and 18 non-film songs… our cumulative YouTube subscriber base increased to 158.3 million, reflecting sustained audience engagement and the growing reach of our content across platforms,” said Executive Director Girish Taurani.
“During Q1 FY 2027, we released 73 songs, including 55 film songs and 18 non-film songs… our cumulative YouTube subscriber base increased to 158.3 million, reflecting sustained audience engagement and the growing reach of our content across platforms.”
Girish Taurani, Tips Music
Tips‘ 21% growth compares with the 11% it posted in the quarter ended September 30, amid what Kumar Taurani called a “challenging industry environment.”
On a sequential basis, though, profit fell 26% from the ₹590 million posted in the preceding quarter.
Shares in Tips fell more than 12% on Wednesday (July 22) after the results.
Tips is also operating without a permanent chief executive.
CEO Hari Nair stepped down on April 30, with Girish Taurani and Sushant Dalmia jointly running the business on an interim basis while the board searches for a successor.
“We are searching for a right candidate. At present, Sushant and Girish is handling very well business as usual,” Kumar Taurani said on the call, adding that the company would “definitely appoint someone soon.”
Tips‘ content outlay lands as its listed rival Saregama pursues its own acquisition drive in Indian film music.
In December, Saregama agreed to invest ₹3.25 billion ($36 million) in Bollywood studio Bhansali Productions, locking in exclusive rights to the studio’s future film music.
Saregama said the structure “guarantees Saregama a steady pipeline of premium, marquee film music, eliminating competitive bidding, thereby securing long-term market share in new music and controlling acquisition costs.”
Tips takes a different route, buying film music on a song-by-song basis and producing a third of its content in-house.
“We are very conservative in terms of our acquisitions. We don’t enter into any bidding war,” Dalmia said.
“We are very conservative in terms of our acquisitions. We don’t enter into any bidding war.”
Sushant Dalmia, Tips Music
Kumar Taurani added: “I feel it won’t create any impact on us because we have a relationship in place, and we also create a lot of our own music… I don’t feel we will have any competition. Touch wood, we will survive better than everyone else.”
Saregama‘s music segment generated ₹8.14 billion ($84 million) in fiscal 2026, more than double Tips‘ total revenue of ₹3.76 billion for the same year.
Saregama says its catalog spans more than 150,000 tracks, versus Tips‘ 38,000.
Tips maintained its full-year guidance of 20% revenue growth and 20% profit growth, with content spending of around ₹900 million to ₹1 billion for the year.
Dalmia said the quarterly margin swing should not be read as a structural shift.
“For EBITDA margin, you have to look on an annual basis. Quarterly there could be aberrations due to content releases,” he said, adding that the full-year figure should land in the 65–70% range.
The board pushed its buyback decision to August 5, from July 22, to weigh an open-market route that becomes available on August 1 alongside a tender offer.
Tips, which is debt-free and held ₹3.45 billion ($37 million) in cash and investments at quarter-end, has committed to returning last year’s profit of ₹2.17 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.
Paid subscription accounts for 10–15% of Indian music revenue, Dalmia said, versus more than 50% globally.
Tips expects that share to climb over the next three to five years, with paid subscribers in India growing at a 40–50% compound annual rate.
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