The Spotify India launch has a new time frame and this time the buzz surrounding the popular music streaming service might just be spot on.
According to latest reports, Spotify has managed to crack music deals with local content giants like T-Series and a couple of other music houses in the country. The report states that Spotify’s India launch could happen by first quarter of 2019.
The information hasn’t been made public as of now, but Spotify informed its partners about meeting its stipulated launch deadline. Spotify is the leading music streaming player in the world, with a claimed user base of more than 71 million paid subscribers. The music service is renowned for its personalised music playlists, that get curated depending on the listening patterns of a user over time.
Spotify will also have to find the right strategy for its pricing plans, to ensure it can add a large number number of users, yet retain quality listeners.
Spotify has been laying the groundwork for its business to kickstart in the country. After reportedly setting up a physical office in India, it managed to hire a communications executive and is looking out for music curators for the market.
The popular music streaming platform has seen other biggies such as Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music enter the country, and has even gained paid users. However, Spotify has taken its own sweet time entering various markets in the Asian region.
Earlier this year, Daniel Ek had confirmed its plan to launch in India, among other countries where the streaming service was yet to release.
We are working on launching in some of the biggest markets in the world, places like India, Russia, and Africa which have a very rich musical culture.Daniel Ek, CEO and Co-Founder, Spotify
Streaming services are becoming popular with Indian users, thanks to cheap data plans, and affordable broadband plans as well. In India, Spotify will go up against Gaana from Times Internet Limited, JioSaavn from Reliance Jio and Amazon Music from Amazon among others.
These are well established streaming services, and Spotify will need to play it smart while curating content, as well as deciding how to price them. Over 90 percent of the country’s population relies on freemium services to stream content, Spotify will have to consider that.
It helps Spotify’s cause that over 36 percent of users in India are already aware of the brand, and use it via VPN services, connecting them through the US server.
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