The world’s biggest streaming service — Spotify — is now launched in India, becoming the last major player to enter India’s music streaming market. It’s launching with the same dual-tier approach Spotify has elsewhere around the world. It’s free to use, albeit with ads, and you can choose to pay to remove them (and get other advanced features such as offline listening and better quality) at a price. Spotify Premium costs Rs. 119 per month, though there are more affordable bundles available for students and shorter periods. Spotify’s family plan is not available in India at the moment.
What Spotify does have is a strong local slate, which is why it’s so late to India, because Spotify “goes through a very strong development process”, wherein it looks at “local content and consumer insights, goes back and improves the product,” Spotify India MD Amarjit Singh Batra told to media. Though it offers music in several languages, its recommendation engines are best adapted to Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu in India, Spotify India’s head of market operations, Akshat Harbola, said.
A Spotify India website is also live as of Wednesday morning. As per the site, after a month of free trial, users will be able to get Spotify Premium starting Rs 119 per month. There is also a Rs 13 per day option with no commitment to a long term subscription.
But there is the free option too with personalised playlists and recommendations, access to the full catalogue across all devices, ability to create and share playlists as well as the option for background play. On Premium, users will have access to offline as well as ad-free music, high quality streaming at 320kbps. After the free 30-day Spotify Premium trials, subscribers can choose to credit/debit cards or e-wallets. Download Spotify here.