With Rs 48 Cr fresh investment, Spotify goes live in India

After months of long wait, Swedish online music streaming giant Spotify has officially launched its services in India.

The streaming service is currently live in India with musical categories including pop, rock, and indie, along with India-specific genres like Tamil and Bollywood.

It also has exclusive features for Indian music fans such as Spotify Free and specific playlists made for India and its metro cities.

The launch has taken place amidst Spotify and Warner dispute over licensing terms. Warner Music Group had filed an interjection in the court to block Spotify from being able to play music from its catalogue on the streaming service.

It alleged that Spotify abruptly changed course and has falsely asserted a statutory license for our songwriters’ music publishing rights.

However, Bombay HC allowed Spotify to launch services in the country after depositing Rs 6.5 crore, reported TOI.

The ruling outlined that broadcasters can obtain a license for copyrighted works even if the copyright owner denies use. Based on it, Spotify has now launched the services in India.

The music streamer is providing new users to sign up for the 30-day free trial. It has premium membership plans for existing users. Spotify Premium membership costs Rs. 119 per month and Rs 1,189 for a full year.

The most striking feature of the premium membership is probably the availability of higher quality audio and higher speed streaming of music.

Its offering starts at Rs 13 for one day to Rs 719 for 6 months.

Last year, the firm claimed to have opened an office in Mumbai and recruited about 300 employees to do groundwork.

Importantly, Spotify has received overall Rs 88 crore in debt funding and Rs 6.38 crore in equity via the Sweden entity of the company. The most recent part of it was poured in via 4.8 crore compulsorily convertible debentures altogether worth Rs 48 crore in January this year ( hat tip: paper.vc).

Entrackr has sent queries to Spotify seeking detail response about its Indian operations.

In India, it will compete with companies such as Gaana, JioSaavn, Hungama and Airtel’s Wynk. Spotify will also face competition from tech giants Apple, Amazon and Google Play, who have also been offering online music streaming services.

In India, the number of online music listeners is expected to climb to 273 million by 2020, according to consulting firm Deloitte.