About four or five years ago, there were only a few online music streaming services in India, hoping to get done with their nascent days in the country. However, as Internet connectivity and availability began to improve, the number of streaming service spiked, opening the Indian market for foreign players that do not want to leave a single opportunity slip to start or expand their businesses in India.
Major tech giants such as Apple, Google, Netflix, and Amazon have already tapped the Indian streaming market, meanwhile signalling the greater adoption rate of these services. Apple Music and Google Play Music were launched in 2015 and 2017, respectively, while Amazon Prime Music service began a little late, with the formal and full-scale launch announced earlier this year. However, one of the world’s most used online music streaming apps – Spotify – is not available in India. Spotify is popular in many countries, including the US where it surpassed Apple Music in terms of user base.
While Spotify has never shown any interest in India previously, its CEO may now have hinted that the world’s most popular streaming app could enter India ‘soon’. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek confirmed this development at the company’s investor day presentation. He said, “We are working on launching in some of the biggest markets in the world, including India, Russia and Africa which has a very rich musical culture.” However imminent the launch of Spotify may seem in India, Ek hasn’t divulged any specific timeline for the launch. An earlier report said that Spotify has leased a office space in India and it is quite popular in the country.
Spotify, if launched in India by this year, will have an upper hand among the people who know about the service and use it by either legitimate or the otherwise means. It will take on the likes of Google Play Music, Amazon Music, and Apple Music while giving tough competition to other streaming services including Saavn, Gaana, Hungama, and Wynk Music. However, it remains to be seen what pricing model Spotify implements in India, if it chooses to enter the Indian market.
