Spotify debuts in India, to take on Gaana, JioSaavn
MUMBAI: Throwing a big competition to music streaming services like Gaana, JioSaavn, Apple Music and Amazon Music, Swedish firm Spotify on Wednesday made its debut in the country with all-new features, including for regional music.
Spotify will offer more than 40 million songs and 3 billion playlists for music fans in the country, the company said in a statement.
It had briefly hit a hurdle when the music label, Warner Music Group (WMG), filed for an injunction in the Bombay High Court earlier this week over licensing rights.
“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 chief executive officer (CEO).
The Spotify app—now available on mobile, desktop and tablet—is free to down- load and users need to spend ₹119 a month to upgrade to Spotify Premium.
“Spotify’s music recommendation engine can now be tuned to Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. Indian users can select their preferred language(s) to receive tailored daily mix, home, radio, search results and recommendations,” said the company.
For the first time on Spotify Free, smartphone users in India can play every song on demand, informed the company.
Available across 79 markets, Spotify has 207 million active users and 96 million of these users are Spotify Premium subscribers.