The Swedish online music streaming service Spotify is reported to launch services in India by the end of January 2019.
The online music streaming giant will be launching without major groups like Sony, Universal & Warner due to no big presence in the country. Instead, will be rolling out content in partnership with T-Series.
A major chunk of its users worldwide are below the age of 34. Spotify claims to have a presence in 78 markets across the world with more than 83 million paying subscribers. According to Entrackr’s report, earlier in November 2018, the company plans to launch its services in May 2019 with 30 days of free trial for new members. Spotify CEO, Danial Ek had confirmed the development. The firm claims to have opened an office in Mumbai and recruited approximately 300 employees for the groundwork.
With the launch in India, Spotify will go directly in competition with companies like Gaana, Saavn, Hungama and Airtel Wynk. It will also be going head to head with the likes of Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Google Play. According to a report by Deloitte, a consulting firm, the number of online music listeners is expected to climb to 273 million by the end of 2020.
With claims of having more than 250 partners across television, radio, cars, laptops, receivers, and speakers among others, Spotify is open to the acquisition of local firms like Gaana. However, no concrete information has been rolled out with regards to that.
The launch is expected to take place in Mumbai on 31st of January. Spotify plans to launch the services in five languages with an extensive library of more than 160,000 tracks across various genres including regional, Bollywood, non-movie albums and songs from emerging independent artists.
