Originals, Not Covers: 6 Songs (Oct 2026)

Six original Indie India songs whose recordings the artists own, from Anuv Jain's Husn to Suzonn, Dream Note, Yashraj, Sarah Black and JBABE.

Key facts

All six songs were on Spotify's 75-track Indie India playlist at about 9:30 AM IST on 25 October 2026.
All six releases name the artist on the Apple Music ℗ line, from ℗ 2018 Dream Note to ℗ 2026 JBABE.
Anuv Jain said Husn was independently released with little marketing and reached number one on Spotify and Apple Music in India.
Suzonn says Farq Hai translates to 'There is a difference'.
Maname reached No. 5 on Spotify's Viral 50 India with no music video and no major label backing.

Episode 2 of Originals, Not Covers picks six original songs from Spotify's Indie India playlist whose sound recordings are owned by the artists who made them: Husn by Anuv Jain, Farq Hai by Suzonn, Waqt Ki Baatein by Dream Note, Dhundhala by Yashraj, Dropped Out and Talwiinder, Maname by Sarah Black and Cries in Crocodile by JBABE. On Apple Music, every one of these releases carries the artist's own name on the ℗ line, not a company's. Each entry below lists who made the song, when it came out, how it is credited and what makes it the artist's own, with sources listed at the end.

Why self-owned songs this week

The first episode of this series, Originals, Not Covers: 7 Indie India Songs, picked seven original songs from the same playlist. For episode 2 we narrowed the filter. Every song here was written by the credited artist and released under a ℗ line that names that artist, which is the plainest sign on a streaming service that the recording belongs to the person who made it.

That matters for listeners who want to support independent music directly. When the artist owns the master, streams, downloads and licensing requests all lead back to the songwriter. It also shows that these songs reached a national editorial playlist without a large company behind the release. Our guide to the Spotify Indie India playlist explains how that playlist works and what else sits on it.

How we checked each song

Each pick went through the same three checks. Its place on the Indie India playlist and its Spotify release date came from Spotify's own playlist data, captured on the morning of 25 October 2026. The ℗ line, which names the owner of the sound recording, was read from Apple Music's catalogue. The story behind each song came from interviews, press coverage or Wikipedia, all listed under Sources. Songs whose ℗ line named a label, even a small one, were left for a later episode.

1. Husn by Anuv Jain (2023)

Made by: Anuv Jain, singer-songwriter from Ludhiana
Released: 1 December 2023
Label: Independent (℗ 2023 Anuv Jain on Apple Music)
Indie India position on 25 October 2026: 47

Husn is the song that took Anuv Jain from indie favourite to chart-topper. Wikipedia reports that it passed 50 million Spotify streams in its first month and became the most streamed indie song of 2024 on the year-end charts of the streaming platforms. In a 2024 interview with Rolling Stone India, Jain said Husn became the number one song in India on both Spotify and Apple Music, and held the top spot in Pakistan for a long period. He stressed that the song "was independently released," with little promotion beyond a few reels he shared himself.

What makes it his own is the writing. When the single came out, Jain told IANS that Husn "means external beauty" and that the song is about "external beauty without the depth of relationship and love," which he called "a situationship in the most natural form." He added that "there are no bad characters here. Just two people looking for different things." Episode 1 featured his first recorded song, Baarishein, so Husn shows how far the same simple, guitar-led style has travelled. More on his catalogue is in our Anuv Jain profile.

2. Farq Hai by Suzonn (2020)

Made by: Suzonn (Sujan Sinha), singer-songwriter and composer from Guwahati, Assam
Released: 26 November 2020
Label: Independent (℗ 2020 Suzonn on Apple Music)
Indie India position on 25 October 2026: 44

Suzonn is the stage name of Sujan Sinha, who GOGO Magazine and Gomantak Times both describe as an independent singer-songwriter and composer based in Guwahati, working across contemporary folk, indie folk and pop. He writes his own lyrics and composes his own music. Speaking to Gomantak Times, he explained the title: "The phrase 'Farq Hai!' translates to 'There is a difference'." He said the song focuses on "the hidden emotions and traumas an individual carries due to societal prejudices, discrimination, classism and other inequalities."

The original idea is how it hides a social song inside a love song. In a 2021 interview with GOGO Magazine, Suzonn said the track "depicts the double-faced disposition of society," with that despondency "expressed in the form of a love song." His process is hands-on too. He told The Indian Music Diaries that he begins with a demo in his home setup, then finds a producer and session musicians before recording the final vocals. He called the moment Farq Hai became an internet sensation "surreal."

3. Waqt Ki Baatein by Dream Note (2018)

Made by: Dream Note, the Jaipur indie-pop duo of singer-songwriter Gaurav Tiwari and producer and guitarist Taresh Agarwal
Released: 15 March 2018
Label: Independent (℗ 2018 Dream Note on Apple Music)
Indie India position on 25 October 2026: 75

Dream Note formed in Jaipur in 2014, according to Wikipedia, and released its first original single, Tere Janey Ke Baad, in 2017. Waqt Ki Baatein followed in 2018 and became the duo's breakout. Wikipedia notes that it went viral during the Covid pandemic, two years after release, which is a good reminder that an original song can find its audience long after it first comes out.

The duo's sound is described on Wikipedia as ambient, dreamy pop with folk and rock influences. Since Waqt Ki Baatein, Dream Note has released the EPs Girgit Damroo And The Good Trip (2020) and Dhun (2022), toured six cities on The Dream Tour in May 2022 and released the mini-album Jaadugari on 30 October 2025, followed by a 14-city tour. Wikipedia also notes that the duo was part of Spotify's RADAR India emerging artist programme. Eight years on, Waqt Ki Baatein still closes out the Indie India playlist.

4. Dhundhala by Yashraj, Dropped Out and Talwiinder (2022)

Made by: Mumbai rapper Yashraj, producer Dropped Out and singer Talwiinder
Released: 18 February 2022
Label: Independent (℗ 2022 Yashraj on Apple Music)
Indie India position on 25 October 2026: 52

Dhundhala is a three-way collaboration released under Yashraj's own ℗ line. Rolling Stone India describes it as Talwiinder's collaboration "with Mumbai's Yashraj and producer Dropped Out." In a 2025 cover story, the magazine reported that Talwiinder's early contributions to Hasan Raheem's Wishes and to Yashraj's Dhundhala "first launched him into the stratosphere."

What makes Dhundhala original is the meeting point it represents. A Mumbai hip-hop artist, a producer and a Punjabi singer from the Bay Area built one song together, and that song became an early step for all three. Rolling Stone India quotes Talwiinder saying he looks for collaborators with hunger rather than fame: "I'm just trying to find my people that I'm gonna take over with." Dhundhala is an example of that idea working.

5. Maname by Sarah Black (2026)

Made by: Sarah Black, Chennai-born singer-songwriter, with Tamil lyrics by Sydney-based Sathyan Ilanko
Released: 13 February 2026
Label: Independent (℗ 2026 sarahblack on Apple Music)
Indie India position on 25 October 2026: 64

Maname is the newest discovery story on this list. The Indian Sun reported that the song was composed and sung by Sarah Black, with lyrics by Sarah and Sathyan, and that it blends English and Tamil. It reached No. 5 on Spotify's Viral 50 India, No. 1 on Radar Tamil and No. 4 on Viral 50 UAE. The paper stressed how it grew: "With no music video, no major label backing and minimal promotion, the song has spread through word of mouth."

The collaboration was simple, the Indian Sun said. Sarah had a tune and Sathyan wrote the lyrics. Homegrown later reported that a short audio loop she teased on Instagram crossed a million views, and that in June 2026 she released Maname Neeyae, a fuller version with new lyrics and a larger orchestral arrangement. Homegrown traced her songwriting back to writing songs at the age of nine and playing Chennai open mics as a teenager. We reviewed the song in detail in our Sarah Black Maname review.

6. Cries in Crocodile by JBABE (2026)

Made by: JBABE, the solo project of Joshua Fernandez, vocalist and guitarist of The F16s
Released: 10 June 2026, as track 1 of A Little Larger Than The Entire Universe
Label: Independent (℗ 2026 JBABE on Apple Music)
Indie India position on 25 October 2026: 65

Cries in Crocodile opens JBABE's nine-track album A Little Larger Than The Entire Universe, according to Apple Music's track listing. Rolling Stone India describes the album's music as "laidback alternative rock and pop, but with philosophical depth" and calls it JBABE "extending and reestablishing his footing as a solo indie artist outside of his band."

The independence here is real and personal. JBABE told Rolling Stone India that he went into debt making the album, but said it was worth it: "Money will always come and go, but when you make something with your brothers, it's kind of beautiful." His mother's voice appears on the album track Psalms 5, through a voice note of her reading the hymn. Rolling Stone India also reported that he crossed 100,000 listeners on Spotify around the album's release.

What the six songs have in common

Each of these songs reached a national playlist with the artist's name on the recording. Several did it slowly. Waqt Ki Baatein went viral two years after release, Farq Hai became what its writer called an internet sensation, and Maname spread through reels and covers before it had a video. The others show different ways to stay independent: Husn reached number one without a big campaign, Dhundhala was built by three artists together, and Cries in Crocodile came from an artist who funded his own album.

They also cover a lot of ground for one playlist. There is Hindi and Urdu songwriting from Ludhiana, Guwahati and Jaipur, a hip-hop collaboration between Mumbai and Punjabi music, a Tamil and English song from Chennai and an English-language alternative record from Chennai and Goa.

How to support the originals

The most direct support is to stream and save the original recording, not a re-upload. Follow the artists on the platforms you use, so their next release reaches you. Buy tickets when they tour, and if you make your own version of a song you love, credit and link the original so that listeners can find their way back to it. Watching the official videos on the artists' own channels also helps, because the views go to the people who made the songs.

FAQ

Who wrote the song Husn?

Husn was written by Anuv Jain, who also sings it. He told IANS the song is about external beauty without the depth of love, "a situationship in the most natural form." It was released on 1 December 2023 under his own ℗ line.

Is Anuv Jain an independent artist?

His releases in this list are. Apple Music lists Husn as ℗ 2023 Anuv Jain, and Jain told Rolling Stone India that Husn was independently released with very little marketing.

What is the meaning of Farq Hai?

Its writer Suzonn told Gomantak Times that Farq Hai translates to "There is a difference." The song explores the distance that prejudice, discrimination and classism can put between people, told as a love song.

Who sang Farq Hai?

Farq Hai was written, composed and sung by Suzonn, the stage name of Guwahati singer-songwriter Sujan Sinha. It was released on 26 November 2020.

What language is the Maname song?

Maname blends English and Tamil, according to The Indian Sun. Sarah Black composed and sang it, and the Tamil lyrics came from Sydney-based lyricist Sathyan Ilanko.