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World’s largest music streaming service Spotify has crossed the one million subscribers mark in India, within a week of its much-anticipated launch in the country. The number includes both free and premium users. The Swedish firm now wants to go beyond online streaming and looking at other avenues of growth in India.
Talking to BusinessLine , Spotify India’s Managing Director, Amarjit Singh Batra, said offline play would be important for the platform here.
“We want to be a part of the user music journey across platforms. ‘Spotify on Stage’ is where we try to replicate a playlist on stage. We’ve got a successful run of this in many countries. That’s something we’ve started discussion on in India as well,” Singh said. Launched in 2017, Spotify On Stage turns playlists into live music events, featuring top artists in the region.
“Another thing is Fan First wherein we create intimate experiences between fans and artists. We connect the super fans and artists and let them create music together, do jamming together etc,” he added. While India is the 79th market for Spotify, the company is not shying away from going all out. Spotify has already signed licensing agreements with all major Indian labels such as T-Series and Zee Music, in addition to partnering with international labels with strong India presence such as Sony and Universal. The service is adding over 30,000 songs a day to boost its India-focused library. That gives Indian consumers access to over 40 million songs. The one million user-base in India is still a small number for a player that has over 207 million monthly active users globally. But given India’s large population, the Swedish firm is bullish on its prospects.
Music piracy thriving
Premium music streaming subscription is on the rise in the country, which is known to be one of the largest consumers of pirated music. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, income from subscription audio streams in India tripled to ₹220 crore in 2017, while ad-supported streaming income fell by 29.5%.
“There is still a small percentage of internet users streaming music. Moreover, the internet penetration is still growing rapidly in the country. I think the market can grow a lot,” Singh said.
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