How to release a Malayalam song: Spotify, JioSaavn, Onam playlists and Gulf listeners

Malayalam is the first language of about 3.5 crore people (Census 2011), India's tenth largest scheduled language. It is spoken in Kerala and Lakshadweep, in Mahe (Puducherry), in Kanyakumari and the Tamil Nadu border districts, and in Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu in Karnataka, and Malayalis carry it to the Persian Gulf, notably Dubai, Kuwait and Doha.

Mollywood film music is the core of Kerala's popular music: 24 of the 50 songs in Spotify's Hot Hits Malayalam carried a film tag on 23 October 2026. Older traditions sit right beside it, from Mappila Paattu and Onam songs to Theyyam ritual songs.

With one SUF Digitals release your song is on Spotify, JioSaavn, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Gaana, Instagram, Facebook and 150+ stores around the world. Caller tunes on Jio, Airtel, Vi and BSNL are part of every plan at no extra cost.

This is the whole Malayalam song release, start to finish. You need no follower count or stream minimum to join.

1. Sign up to SUF Digitals and choose a plan. Plans begin at Rs 999 a year before GST, and your copyright stays 100% yours on every plan.
2. Add your artist name and the links to your Spotify and Apple Music profiles. New to the stores? Say so on your first release, and your artist pages are created with it.
3. Create the release and choose the language, for the release and for each track. Malayalam is under "All languages" in the picker, and the stores list your song as Malayalam.
4. Upload a WAV or FLAC master (16 or 24 bit, 44.1 to 96 kHz) and a 3000 x 3000 pixel square cover in JPG or PNG. The free cover art checker runs the same checks beforehand.
5. Credit the singers, composers, lyricists and producers, declare the song rights, and pick a release date. On Rising and higher plans you choose the date; on Debut it is set for you, 7 days after submission.
6. Submit. SUF checks every release against the stores' rules before it goes out, and on release day your free smart link sends each fan straight to the song in their own music app.

Spotify, JioSaavn, Apple Music and Amazon Music all run Malayalam playlists, and JioSaavn adds lists for Onam, Mappila songs, Ayyappa songs and Christmas. Here is what we found in October 2026:

Malayalam is also one of JioSaavn's radio languages, and Apple Music has a Malayalam curator page. The Top 50, Most Searched and 50 Most Played lists are charts, built from what people play and search; the rest are editors' choices.

Playlist pitching is included from the Pro plan up: Pro, Signature, Label Pro and Label Enterprise. SUF pitches to the editors at Spotify, Apple Music, JioSaavn, Gaana, Amazon Music and YouTube Music, including the people who run these Malayalam lists, and can pitch a full EP or album. Lock your release at least 14 days before release day; Spotify will not consider a song pitched less than 7 days ahead. Editors choose, placement is never guaranteed, and SUF never buys streams or playlist spots. Details on playlist pitching.

Malayalam (മലയാളം) is written in Malayalam script, once also in Arabi Malayalam, and informally in Roman letters. Store titles use Roman letters: all 50 in Spotify's Hot Hits Malayalam and all 39 in JioSaavn's Malayalam Top 50 did on 23 October 2026.

Give your song a Roman-letter title spelled the way fans would search for it on their phones, and post the Malayalam-script title in the release description and your YouTube and Instagram captions. Titles cannot include emoji, ALL CAPS, "feat." or promo words: Official, Lyrical, Video Song, Latest, New Song and Trending are all out.

Artist names go in English letters (letters, numbers, spaces and . ' & ( ) - only). Stick to one spelling everywhere, since a second spelling becomes a second artist page, and keep the words on the cover art matching the title and artist name.

Onam, Kerala's harvest festival, has its own songs, the Onappaattu, sung through the festival, and JioSaavn runs Happy Onam and Onam Classics. Vishu, the Malayali new year on 14 or 15 April, is the next peak, and at Christmas JioSaavn adds Merry Christmas - Malayalam.

On Pro and above, lock the release at least 14 days before release day so it can be pitched, and three to four weeks before a festival is better: about a month before Onam, by mid-March for Vishu and by the end of November for Christmas.

Kerala's song traditions include Mappila Paattu, the Arabi Malayalam songs of Malabar; Oppana and Kolkali music; Theyyam ritual songs; Thomas Christian folk songs; Sopana Sangeetham, the temple form built on the Gita Govinda ashtapadis; and Kathakali songs in Manipravalam. Ayyappa songs have their own JioSaavn list, Swami Ayyappan - Malayalam.

On SUF, every track is declared as original, cover, traditional or public domain, or remix. A song handed down for generations, such as a Theyyam song or an ashtapadi, is "Traditional or public domain", provided the recording is your own. A carol or Mappila song that someone wrote, rather than one handed down, has an owner, so recording it is a cover that needs the song owner's licence, and a remix needs the original recording owner's permission.

YouTube Content ID is only for original songs with no samples or non-exclusive beats; traditional songs never go on it. Our guides to devotional music and cover songs have the details.

Your release goes to stores worldwide, and your statements break earnings down by track, store, country and month, so you can see what listeners in the Gulf add. Royalties are paid in rupees to your bank account or UPI.

If you live in Dubai, Kuwait or Doha yourself, you can still join, and payouts go by international bank transfer (SWIFT) or PayPal.

At home, caller tunes on Jio, Airtel, Vi and BSNL come with every plan at no extra cost, and a song people keep as their caller tune earns every month they keep it. See caller tunes and the royalty calculator.

Malayalam is one of every Indian language we release in. Check the plans, then read the Tamil guide if you sing in a neighbouring language too. Beary songs, which the stores list under Malayalam, are covered in the Tulu guide.