Spotify finally enters India with subscriptions starting at ₹119

New Delhi: Music streaming service Spotify is officially live in India. While users started seeing the app on both Android and iOS app stores from the evening of February 26, 2019, the company made its official entry into the country today.

"India has an incredibly rich music culture and to best serve this market, we’re launching a custom-built experience. Not only will Spotify bring Indian artists to the world, we’ll also bring the world’s music to fans across India. Spotify’s music family just got a whole lot bigger," said Daniel Ek, Spotify founder and CEO.

While Spotify can be used for streaming music for free, the company is offering a premium (ad-free) subscription for ₹119 per month in the country. The app will be available on mobile, desktop and tablets, alongside support for smart speakers and home devices. Users can pay via credit and debit cards, along with PayTM. Interestingly, paying through PayTM and UPI platforms increases the subscription prices to Rs. 129 per month.

Globally, Spotify has 207 million active users and 96 million paid subscribers. In India, the company will be in contention against services like Gaana, JioSaavn, Airtel’s Wynk music and Apple Music. At the prices Spotify is asking, the service comes in as one of the more premium music streaming apps in the country, taking on Apple Music.

Both Gaana and JioSaavn offer subscriptions starting at ₹99 per month, and have free ad-supported services as well. The services have also spent years developing their music catalogues here, which Spotify will have to contend against.

The Swedish company had earlier announced a deal with T-Series, giving them rights to regional and Bollywood music for India. However, whether that makes Spotify comparable to its competition remains to be seen. Additionally, the company recently faced an issue with Warner Music, which disallows the company from bringing music by artists like Katy Perry, Led Zepelling etc. to the country.

That said, many users seem to appreciate the fact that the company is finally providing services in India, through Twitter and other social media.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.