Micromax Invests In Times Internet’s Music Streaming App Gaana

India’s handset brand, Micromax, has made a strategic investment in Times Internet’s music streaming app, Gaana.com.

As a part of this partnership, all Micromax phones will have the Gaana app pre-installed. The new users will get a free trial of premium service Gaana+, allowing them to stream unlimited music and without any ads. However, after the trial period is over, users will be able to continue with Gaana+ or use Gaana to access songs, but, with an advertisement-supported streaming.

Gaana provides users access to over 10 Mn songs in more than 45 languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, English, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Bengali, Assamese and Oriya.

The app is available on all major mobile platforms such as iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry and J2ME with over 30 Mn downloads. Currently, it has over 20 Mn active users and over 700% annual growth in consumption.

Besides, the platform also features 45 radio stations, wherein, 10 such radios are titled Radio Mirchi.

On the other side, Micromax sells over 3.5 Mn mobile phones every month.

“Gaana is becoming a household brand for music, and in partnership with Micromax, we will strengthen our footprint, helping us reach our goal of 100 million Indian users, listening to millions of songs via Gaana,” said, Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet.

Earlier, Gaana had announced its partnership with The Orchard, a pioneering music, film and video distribution company.

Other players in the music streaming space, other players include Saavn, Hungama and Rdio. Recently, Saavn had raised undisclosed amount in funding led by former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin and earlier this year, it had raised $100 Mn Series C round.

Welcome to Flash Feed, your essential source for breaking news and innovation from around the web – bite-sized and updated all day.