The emergence of Spotify as one of the world’s best music streaming platform
Spotify application was launched on 8 October 2007, and since then, it has become one of the most popular music streaming platforms. Spotify faces competition with Apple Music and Amazon globally, even after that, it has established itself due to its unique features, one of them being, making the best-curated playlist.
Facts
- Spotify has nearly 50 million tracks, and the user can choose tracks on the basis of artists, genre, films, mood, etc.
- Spotify has 271 million active subscribers globally, as of February 2020.
Spotify India: How Spotify stepped into the Indian music streaming industry?
Spotify India entered the Indian market in March 2019 amid the legal battle against Warner, who wants to renegotiate the global deal made with Spotify and are barring Spotify India from publishing Warners music in India.
Spotify will have to work hard to establish itself in India as it is entering late in India, where Jiosaavn and Gaana have already set their grounds in the Indian streaming market.
Facts
- According to a Deloitte report, Spotify India has entered the Indian market when this streaming market will have nearly 273 million subscribers by 2020.
- A report also suggests that the Indian music streaming market has massive growth portent will 400 million mobile users.
Initial days of Spotify in the Indian music streaming market
Spotify India is slowly making progress in establishing itself in the market. Spotify has also entered into various deals with Indian music producing companies to expand itself.
After June, there was a surge in the number of subscribers after the top tracks crossing a million stream in just a week.
Quick Bytes about the initial days of Spotify India
- Spotify garnered 1 million subscribers within a week of the launch of Spotify India.
- Spotify India has also made a deal with T Series, and hence, it has got access to 160,000 songs which Spotify can stream on its platform.
- One million seems to be a significant number, but when we look at the population of India, Spotify India has just garnered 1 percent of India’s population to its platform.
- Some study suggests that Spotify India holds nearly about 15 percent of the Indian streaming market after a year of its launch.
Spotify India: How Spotify conquered the Indian Market
Amarjit Batra, MD of Spotify India said that Spotify had entered India at the right when it has a huge potential to grow with the increasing use of the internet in the country.
Steps taken by Spotify India to establish itself in India music streaming industry
- The first step to conquer the Indian market was to make the Spotify India app available at all the platforms and introduce the feature for which Spotify is known for, i.e., making the specialized playlist.
- The identification of the most listened music tracks in the country was the second step taken by Spotify. The ads of Spotify India mostly revolve around Indian music as the local music is streamed the most.
- Ads shown in the Spotify app are in multiple formats, which consist of audio, video, and banners. Spotify India respects users’ privacy and doesn’t show a lot of ads.
- Spotify has also thought of a way of bringing the artists and fans together with Spotify India, highlighting the fact that the number of independent artists is rising.
The schemes offered by Spotify India in the Indian market
When Spotify was entering the market, the report published by Deloitte stated that, out of India’s population of 1.34 billion, only 10 percent of the population uses a music streaming app, and only 1 percent take a subscription for it.
To tackle this problem, Spotify India allows its users to stream the music free on the Spotify platform, unlike in other countries.
Spotify India is also offering the ad-free premium package at just Rs. 119 per month with the first month being free as a trial period, which is very less than what Spotify offers in other countries.
Facts
- It was noted by Spotify that between the age group of 25 – 55, most people love to listen to ‘Bollywood’ songs.
- Spotify India also reported that people in Goa widely listen to international music.
Spotify India: Types of songs available on the Spotify platform
There was a misconception that Spotify only streams English songs. In reality, Spotify India offers songs in many languages and genres.
The wide range of music offered by Spotify is as follows:
- International music
- Local music in the following languages
- Hindi
- Punjabi
- Tamil
- Telugu
Aims of Spotify India
Spotify India aims at bringing the world’s music to fans living in India because Spotify has noticed that India is one of the countries that have a varied taste in music.
The aim of Spotify India is to bring the billions of artists all the world and the Indian fans together, and Spotify also wants that there is also a boom to independent artists in India.
The biggest competitors of Spotify India
When Spotify decided to step into the Indian market, many competitors had already established themselves.
Following are the biggest competitors of Spotify
- JioSaavn
- Gaana
- Wynk Music
- Apple Music
- Amazon Music
JioSaavn as a competitor of Spotify India
Reliance Jio merged with Saavn music streaming platform to become one of the best local music streaming music app. This merger was announced after Spotify decided to enter the Indian market.
With Saavn having 45 million songs and Jio having 250 million subscribers to its network, it would prove to be the biggest competitor of Spotify India.
Strategies by Jio Saavn to compete with Spotify
- Jio Saavn, to compete with Spotify India, has added a feature of ‘ Daily Mixes’ to its app.
- Jio Saavn is also giving a 90 day free trial for the Jio users to tackle the pricing policy of Spotify.
The local music streaming app Gaana competing against Spotify
Gaana is one of the most popular in the music streaming industry. There are more than 80 million users of Gaana, and it keeps on adding features to compete against Spotify India.
- Gaana has the cheapest subscription prices, even lower than Spotify.
- Gaana makes the daily mixes for everyone to tackle the playlist feature of Spotify India.
- Gaana streams music in 21 different languages, whereas Spotify streams in less than ten languages.
Apple Music as a competitor of Spotify India
- Apple Music is not free, unlike Spotify, and the user has to take the subscription to gain access to the app.
- There are around 56 million users listening to Apple Music in India.
- To compete against Spotify India, Apple Music offers 90 days as a free trial period.
Wynk Music as a competitor of Spotify India
WynkMusic is the music streaming platform owned by Bharti Airtel, and it is the biggest competitor of Spotify as it has established itself in the Indian music industry by giving a 1-year free premium to the users of Airtel.
Facts
- Wynk now has 50 million subscribers, according to Airtel.
- Airtel has also noted that 45 percent of users are Non-Airtel customers.
Amazon Music trying to make a mark against Spotify
Amazon Music has 100 million subscribers and is slowly progressing in becoming one of the most popular streaming applications in India.
Unique features of Amazon Music
- Unlike Spotify India, Amazon Music does have a free streaming feature, and a user needs to take a subscription.
- With Amazon Music, you gain access to Amazon Prime videos, which is a very lucrative offer for the users.
- Amazon is giving a close competition to Spotify and has streamed its music in about ten languages.
Latest news about Spotify India
#Spotify reschedules all the events amid the Coronovirus fear in India
The cases of Coronavirus are rising rapidly in India, and there is a fearful environment all over the country. Many companies were canceling their events amind Coronavirus fear in the country. Spotify India has also decided to cancel all the events that were to take at the end of February.
Spotify has decided that all the events will be rescheduled after the conditions would be normal again in the country. Spotify has canceled all the events, which also included a media event.
# Spotify India announced the release of India original podcasts
To gain more users, Spotify India has decided to release India’s original podcasts. Spotify India has also reported that the name of India’s podcasts.
The Spotify podcasts include 22 years with Gaurav Kapur, where the cricket host will tell some stories about the cricket world. Spotify India podcasts also include a story of Bhaskar Bose, who is a Chartered Accountant who has moved to Mumbai and how he finds his true passion. The other podcast is a story based on the story of 2 friends who discuss love, sex, and drama.
Note:
Spotify made this announcement to its global audio-first strategy. This strategy of Spotify focuses on the brand’s potential to grow faster with more original podcasts.
#Spotify India announced the launch of a premium family plan
Spotify is broadening its base in India and has announced a premium family plan. The price of the premium family plan of Spotify India is Rs. 179 per month.
- The subscribers Spotify India will have access to 450,000 podcasts and 50 million songs.
- This plan will provide six accounts per family, where each account will get the full premium service and can download/save songs in three devices per premium account.
