Till a few years back, people in India either had to buy online albums or CDs to listen to their favourite music or resort to downloading music not-so-legally. However, this changed when apps like Amazon Prime Music, Apple Music, Wynk, Google Play Music, JioSaavn and others garnered popularity. With mobile data becoming affordable after Reliance Jio forayed into the telecom segment, these apps became the mainstream way of listening to music for a majority of Indians.
But soon, all popular music apps in India will face some serious competition as Spotify, which leads this segment in a number of western countries, could finally be launched in the country. According to a new report in Variety, the popular music streaming app could be launched in India on January 31. We should also mention that in a November, a report surfaced online which claimed that Spotify has signed a licensing deal with T-Series, which is one among the biggest record labels in the country.
Earlier this week, it was also reported that the deal between the two companies has been finalised and the Sweden-based app is finally set to launch in India with a music catalogue that Indian users find meaningful. It is worth noticing that as of now, Spotify does not have any deals with other record labels and it could make an entire catalogue of music available to users in India and at the same time, make Indian content available to users in other parts of the world.
As of now, the app is present in 78 countries and reportedly has 200 million users among which, about 87 million are paid subscribers. In India, the music streaming space is dominated by players like Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music, Wynk Music, Google Play Music and JioSaavn. So if Spotify is launching in the country on January 31, it will face an inevitable competition from these players. However, with its more extensive music catalogue, the app is very likely to have an edge over others. But then, Spotify must also have a plan for its non-paying users in India, considering there will be people who may not want to pay for the service when there a number of other options available that enable them to listen to music for free.
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