Bharti Airtel, India’s second largest operator by market share on Tuesday said the company has entered into a strategic partnership with Apple, which will give its users exclusive access to Apple TV+ and Apple Music content later this year.
Following this deal, Airtel is shutting down its music streaming business Wynk Music after 10 years of operations. The same will be replaced by exclusive Apple Music content, a company official said.
“We will sunset Wynk music. All Wynk employees will be absorbed within the Airtel ecosystem,” the official added.
Wynk Music has been at the forefront of offering music content for customers. Airtel launched Wynk Music app in 2014, which crossed over 100,000 downloads in four days. Over the years, the app witnessed over 100 million downloads.
In a release, the company said Wynk Premium users will receive exclusive offers from Airtel for Apple Music. On the other hand, Airtel Xstream customers can explore the content on Apple TV+ included with premium Airtel WiFi and Postpaid plans.
“Airtel offers a one stop shop to bring all content and entertainment through Airtel Xstream. This partnership with Apple will provide immense value to our customers since they will now have access to the best content and entertainment globally,” said Amit Tripathi, chief marketing officer & executive vice president of customer experience at Bharti Airtel.
Oliver Schusser, vice president of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Sports, and Beats said, “we are thrilled that Airtel customers in India will soon be able to enjoy all of the incredible content on Apple TV+ and Apple Music. With our ever growing catalog of world-class films, television shows and music to choose from, we know there will be something for everyone” said.
Airtel’s exclusive partnership with Apple assumes significance given large screen video content viewership is growing at a fast pace in India, and there is a large appetite for high quality video content among Indian users. Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment.
Currently, Airtel Xstream fiber also offers a large selection of TV shows, movies and web series which come included with the WiFi plans. The addition of Apple TV+ will further enrich this content offering. Apple TV+ will come bundled with premium Airtel WiFi and Postpaid plans, Airtel said.
Besides, Apple Music offers one of the largest global collections of both Indian and global music as well as expertly curated playlists, artist interviews, as well as Apple Music Radio.