Spotify Accidentally Reveals India Launch Plans

Sweden-based global music streaming giant Spotify is reportedly planning to launch its operation in India by the end of this month (January 31).

According to reports, the preparation plans were accidentally made public through its India terms and conditions page. However, the page has now been replaced by the previous terms and conditions.

The development comes right after the company signed a global content deal with New Delhi-based film and music company T-Series. This move will allow Spotify users to gain access to T-Series’ catalogue of Bollywood and regional songs, and is being looked at as a step to initiate its launch in the country.

Earlier in November 2018, reports said that Spotify is looking to launch its operations in India within the coming six months. The company was also said to have secured deals with some of the popular music companies.

Spotify was launched in 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and currently boasts of 200 Mn global monthly active users. It has been looking to expand its operations in India since March this year. Further the company, also reportedly hired former OLX India CEO Amarjit Singh Batra as its country head and also got Saavn executive Gaurav Malik on board.

Music Streaming Market In India

According to a report by Statista, the revenue from the digital music segment is projected to reach $246 Mn (INR 1,752 Cr)  by 2023 from $235 Mn (INR 1, 674 Cr) in 2019.

Last year, two Indian music streaming giants Reliance Jio Music and Saavn had merged their operations to strengthen their foothold in the Indian music streaming market. The combined valuation of both the companies stood at $1 Bn (INR 7,124 Cr).

In February 2018, US-based Amazon had launched its Amazon Prime Music in India. For this initiative, the company has entered into several partnerships with Indian music brands like T-Series, Saregama, Zee Music and more to build localised content for the Indian users.

California-based Gracenote which provide music metadata to companies such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play Music had also launched its global music metadata service in India.

[The development was reported by ET]