Bharti Airtel To Shut Music Streaming Platform Wynk

Telecom major Bharti Airtel is reportedly looking to shut its music streaming platform Wynk Music in a couple of months.

According to a report by PTI, the company will dissolve Wynk Music and absorb all its employees. 

“We can confirm that we will sunset Wynk Music and all Wynk music employees will be absorbed within the Airtel ecosystem. Airtel users will have access to Apple Music. Additionally, Wynk Premium users will receive exclusive offers from Airtel for Apple,” a company spokesperson told the news agency. 

Earlier in the day, Airtel said it has partnered with Apple to bring exclusive offers of Apple TV+ and Apple Music to its customers. The company said Wynk Premium users will roll into Apple Music and get exclusive offers.

Besides, the partnership will see Airtel Xstream customers gain access to Apple TV+ content as part of Airtel’s premium Wi-Fi and postpaid plans. The Apple Music and Apple TV+ offers will be available exclusively to Airtel customers in India soon. 

The latest development comes a decade after the launch of Wynk Music in 2014. At the time, it was one of the first music streaming platforms in India. It lets users download and listen to songs while offline. Its premium subscription comes at INR 99 per month. 

While Wynk was one of the early movers in India’s music streaming market, the market has seen a number of changes over the past decade. According to a report by Redseer, Spotify was the dominant player with the highest number of users between 2020-23. In FY23, Spotify commanded a 26% market share in the Indian online streaming market. 

As a result, other homegrown players have struggled to grow. Gaana.com, once Wynk’s arch rival, was acquired by Times Internet-owned Entertainment Network (India) Limited in December 2023 for INR 25 Lakh. 

YouTube Music, Amazon Music, JioSaavn are among the other players in the Indian music streaming market, which is projected to become a $660 Mn opportunity by 2027, as per Statista.