T-Series shines bright like a Diamond

India’s most popular music channel T-Series just hit 10 million subscribers! They’re one of the few YouTube channels globally to reach this level, and to acknowledge it, they’ll be awarded a nifty Diamond Play Button for their trophy case. On the way, T-Series has gained more than 7.7 billion views, with more than 400,000 years of watchtime.

How did they get here, you ask?

Since T-Series started their YouTube channel in 2011, they’ve embraced the change in the way people listen to music, in part by adapting their content for people across a spectrum of connectivity. For example: for people who worry about data consumption, they make lyric-and-audio-only videos, or tracks with album art. Of course, they also have high definition music videos for those who want that option. Their focus on multiple formats has helped them spread a wider net across their audiences. T-Series has also built a strong base of loyal fans by staying in conversation with them on social media.

T-Series also recognize that anybody, anywhere can be a fan of their music. By putting their music on YouTube’s global platform, they have reached viewers worldwide. In fact, adding subtitles and lyric videos have helped them drive a viewership where more than 60% of views are from overseas.

T-Series has also used YouTube as a place to spot new talent. Arjun and Zack Knight are two musicians who started on YouTube that T-Series signed and are now established singing stars. In 2014 T-Series held a cover song contest, from which they discovered Indian-Kiwi singer Shirley Setia on YouTube, who went from singing in her bedroom in New Zealand to performing on the stage of YouTube FanFest in Mumbai this year.

To celebrate their diamond milestone, we thought we’d look back at some of their most popular videos of all time: