The Ravi Shankar Institute of Music and the Performing Arts has launched a structured digital academy teaching Hindustani and Carnatic classical music traditions to students globally, enrolling 50,000 learners across 80 countries in its inaugural semester — a scale that would have required physical academies in every major world city to achieve through conventional means.

The academy offers graded courses in sitar, tabla, sarod, bansuri, violin (Carnatic style), mridangam, and Hindustani and Carnatic vocals — all taught by senior performers and their certified disciples. Lessons follow the traditional guru-shishya methodology adapted to video-based interaction, with theory components delivered through pre-recorded modules.

Demand has been highest from the United States (14,000 students), the United Kingdom (6,200), Canada (4,800), and Australia (3,100), reflecting the large Indian diaspora populations in those countries. Notably, approximately 35 per cent of enrollees identify as non-Indian heritage — a figure that exceeds the academy's own projections.

The institute plans to establish physical residential academies in London, New York, and Singapore for advanced students who wish to pursue intensive immersion programmes of one to three years' duration.