Bytedance-owned Resso officially launches in India

Bytedance-owned Resso has officially launched its operations in India, joining the illustrious list of over 10 music streaming apps already battling for earspace in what now appears to be a crowded market. 

Three months ago, Resso had announced its beta launch.

Resso will join global streaming companies like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Google Play Music, Amazon Prime Music and homegrown companies such as JioSaavn, Gaana and Wynk in a market dominated by the top two players.

The company has already received rights from Indian labels T-Series and Times Music, Saregama, Zee Music, YRF Music, Tips, Venus and Shemaroo, as well as Speed Records, Anand Audio, Lahiri Music, Divo and Muzik 247.

To woo Indian listeners, Resso is currently offering seven days of its premium service for free. Post the free trial period, premium users will have to pay a monthly subscription of Rs 99 on Android and Rs 119 on iOS to download and listen to ad-free music.

The app is getting decent reaction from music lovers in India as it has clocked over half a million downloads in the country. Given that Bytedance is now well known in India due to its popular app TikTok, Resso is likely to receive a wide audience due to cross-promotion.

According to a recent report, Times Internet-owned Gaana and RIL-backed JioSaavn controlled over 50% market share in audio streaming in January.

Interestingly, overseas players Spotify, Google Play Music, Amazon Prime Music and YouTube Music together constituted about 32% of the market. This points to a massive opportunity for global companies that can still grab a significant chunk of the Indian music streaming segment.