Spotify went live in India

HIGHLIGHTS

•  Spotify launched in India with exclusive features 
•  Spotify premium monthly subscription at Rs 119
•  Spotify to offer a Premium subscription to students at a special price

Spotify launched in India after a long wait. The Swedish company made an entry into one of the largest music market in the world. From the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, consumers were able to download and use the Spotify app.

Spotify was at the receiving end of an injunction filed by Warner Music Group with the Bombay High Court. The case prevented Spotify to access Warner/Chappell Music catalogue with the firm going on record to say that it “remains the lone holdout needed for a Spotify launch in India”. Though there’s no update on the case, music fans were able to download the Spotify app.

Spotify has incorporated some exclusive features for the Indian music fans and gave the details in a blog post. The app’s recommendation engine has been tuned to propose music in multiple languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. This is for Spotify’s auto-curated Daily Mix, Home and Radio playlists. Plus there are new playlists especially for the Indian audiences, to name a few Indiestan, Rap 91, Namaste Love, Punjabi101, and Bollywood Butter. Fans can also check out tracks based on what’s trending in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangaluru and Chennai.

Daniel Ek, Spotify’s founder and CEO said, “As Spotify grows, our goal is to bring millions of artists and millions of fans together from every country and background. 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, but we will also bring the world’s music to fans across India. We have been working towards this goal for quite some time, and I am thrilled with today’s launch.”

On the Spotify app, Indian fans can listen to music for free albeit with ads and streaming quality topping out at “high”. The Premium subscription avoids these limitations and listeners can use the app ad-free, download music and set the streaming quality to “very high”.

Spotify offers a bunch of Premium subscription plans for the users. The monthly plan begins from Rs 119 per month on a recurring basis. Users have also got an option to choose from a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annual prepaid plan which is priced as:

•  Daily- Rs 13
•  Weekly- Rs 39
•  Monthly- Rs 129
•  3 months- Rs 389
•  6 months- Rs 719
•  1 year- Rs 1,189

Spotify is also giving a Premium subscription to students at a special price. Spotify can be subscribed for Rs 59 per month for four years by students who are above 18 and enrolled at an accredited college or university. The second plan is priced at Rs 66 and gives one month of subscription. Students can avail over 50% discount for Spotify Premium after completing a verification process in place through SheerID which will corroborate the student’s status.