One Plus, Anheuser-Busch InBev and GoUSA to be Spotify’s exclusive advertising launch partners in India Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming service, has launched its operations in India with the hopes of tapping into the increasing number of online users in India who are expected to speed up their spending on digital content in the coming years. “India has an incredibly rich music culture and to best serve this market, we’re launching a custom-built experience. Not only will Spotify bring Indian artists to the world, we’ll also bring the world’s music to fans across India. Spotify’s music family just got a whole lot bigger,” said Daniel Ek, Spotify founder and CEO. Spotify allows users to listen to the music for free but that comes at the cost of seeing ads which at the moment are spreading brand awareness or urge you to shift to the paid service. Freemium users are also not able to store music offline which is important when there is no net connectivity while ‘Premium’ users, who have to pay $1.68 (INR 119) per month after the end of a 30-day free trail, get everything. The company said it will allow payment options for monthly or yearly subscriptions that can be paid through Paytm, credit or debit cards. It is interesting to note that the company will charge a slightly higher subscription rate of $1.81 (INR 129 per month) if payment is made through ewallets. “The mobile internet revolution has led to a rapid rise in the number of connected Indians, making music streaming the preferred way to enjoy music here. Spotify pioneered music streaming a decade ago, and has constantly reinvented itself to bring the best music experience to the world, and now to India,” said Amarjit Singh Batra, Managing Director, Spotify India On Monday, the India launch hit a snag after Warner Music Group (WMG), filed an injunction against Spotify in an Indian court after licensing negotiations fell apart. India Music Landscape Although Google holds the number one spot when it comes to music app downloads (how many of these subscribers use the paid version of the app is not clear) in India, Jio’s acquisition of music-streaming portal Saavn in a $1 Bn-plus deal is heating up competition for Google. Native music streaming services such as Gaana and Saavn have raised money from big investors such as Tiger Global and Tencent. But one thing that none of the music streaming services, including Apple Music had, prior to launching their operations, was the high level of anticipation among consumers. Spotify is a pop culture phenomenon already in India even prior to launching the service, thanks in part to Indians returning home after having used the service abroad and just the domino of effect caused due to the global phenomenon which Spotify has become having listed on the NYSE with a valuation of $29.5 Bn last year. Cannes Lions awarded Spotify as its first ‘Media Brand of the Year’ in 2018. Some Indian’s had already started using the app via applying hacks related to VPN, APKs and changing location to other countries on the App Store. Indians, on a average, now spend 20 hours every week listening to music, according to India Music 360 report published by Nielsen this year. Spotify ended 2018 with 207 Mn monthly active users (MAUs) including 96 Mn premium subscribers. Those figures were up by 29% and 36% year-on-year, respectively. “For the first time in company history, operating income, net income, and free cash flow were all positive,” the company said in its financial release. According to a KPMG report from 2015 , India’s recorded music business is set to nearly double to INR 18.9 Bn (US $300m) by the end of this year.<doc-sep>What more do you get with Spotify Premium subscription Spotify finally launched in India, and while the popular music streaming platform saw its share of hurdles ahead of its foray in the country, Spotify India has already seen over 14 million downloads in India. In the last half a decade or so, online music streaming services have witnessed a massive rise in demand due to the availability of affordable data, and now, Spotify will be going against the likes of JioSaavn, Gaana, Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music, Wynk and more in India. For the unknown, you can access Spotify for free while there is also a premium version of the service which comes with a host of added features as well options. Spotify Premium price in India starts from Rs. 13 for a day, while the weekly and monthly subscription plans of Spotify are priced at Rs. 39 and Rs. 119. On the other hand, the quarterly, six-months and yearly Spotify subscription plans are priced at Rs. 389, Rs. 719 and Rs. 1189, respectively. Here, we are going to see what Spotify Premium offers over and above the free version of the platform and is it worth paying the extra bucks on the premium service. Also read: Spotify launched in India: Monthly subscription starts at Rs. 119, available for both Android and iOS users Spotify (free version) vs Spotify Premium: What more do you get with the premium version<doc-sep>It might be late to the party, but the Swedish music streaming app Spotify is trying really hard to make up for the lost time in India. The Stockholm-based company launched in the country yesterday (Feb. 27) with freebies and affordable rates to woo price-sensitive Indians, besides announcing plans to go more vernacular. Among other things, Spotify’s ad-free monthly subscription is available in India for Rs119 ($1.67), significantly lower than the $9.99 in the US. In fact, premium plans start at just Rs13 for a daylong subscription. “India is a price sensitive market and we love freebies. Spotify is trying to exploit this sentiment and I believe this is a smart move,” said Yugal Joshi, vice-president at the consulting firm Everest Group. Even the non-paying users in India have it better than what’s available for free elsewhere. For instance, they can search for and play any song from its 40-million-strong library as many times as they wish on their smartphone. This is in contrast to how the mobile version of the app works in other countries. In the US, free users cannot choose which song they hear as the app randomly plays songs for them. “This (Indian version) is probably one of the best free services that we have around the world,” Amarjit Batra, managing director of Spotify India, said during a call with journalists on Feb. 27. Spotify’s decision to offer an attractive free service has a lot to do with it being a laggard in the country, analysts said. “They have no choice. They’ve come so late into the market. The consumer has already formed their liking,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, chief analyst and CEO of consulting firm Greyhound Research. “Nearly every other user of such a service has already found a sweet spot, built playlists, and subscribed to something.” India’s music streaming market has exploded over the last few years with several global and homegrown players fighting neck and neck. The market leaders include US-based Apple Music and Amazon Music, and domestic ones such as Gaana, JioSaavn, and Hungama. But there’s still scope for growth as the country is witnessing a smartphone boom accelerated by a drastic drop in data prices. From 27 million in 2015, India’s online music listeners are slated to surpass 273 million by March 2020, consulting firm Deloitte estimates. Native language content could be pivotal in wooing these new users, and Spotify has a plan for that as well. Its famous music recommendation engines have been optimised for Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu in India, while Spotify staffers will also curate playlists in these languages, the company said.<doc-sep>
(Reuters) - Spotify, the world’s most popular paid music streaming service, launched in India on Tuesday, stepping into a price-sensitive market crowded by well-funded local players like JioSaavn and Apple Music. A trader is reflected in a computer screen displaying the Spotify brand before the company begins selling as a direct listing on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, U.S., April 3, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson The Swedish company said it will offer a free version of the streaming app that will run with ads, alongside a premium ad-free version that will charge users 119 Indian rupees ($1.67) per month. The same plans in the United States start at $9.99, $11.37 in France and $13.30 in the United Kingdom. Indian users can also opt for Spotify Premium for a day for 18 cents. Spotify is coming late to streaming in India. Apple Inc launched in 2015, followed by Alphabet Inc’s Google Play Music in 2017 and Amazon.com Inc’s Prime Music last year. With more than 400 million smartphone users, the market is potentially huge. Spotify India’s Managing Director Amarjit Singh Batra said there are interesting local challenges in India that the company views as “business opportunities”. “The first is to convert users who consume pirated music; they can access music through our free tier which also gives artists the opportunity to earn from their work,” Batra said in an emailed statement. He also pointed to the rising number of independent artists in the country, and said Spotify could provide a platform to bring fans and artists together in-app and offline. Home-grown rivals such as JioSaavn, owned by Reliance Industries; Wynk Music, owned by Bharti Airtel; and Gaana, funded by Tencent Holdings are already well-established in India and offers low prices. Spotify will have to work hard to win market share in the country, whose population of 1.3 billion ranks around 120th globally in terms of annual income. According to media reports, Gaana leads the Indian streaming market with over 80 million monthly users. Spotify has 207 million monthly active users globally and 96 million subscribers. In January, Spotify had announced a partnership with India’s largest music label T-Series, giving it access to a catalog of over 160,000 songs.