Spotify Free In India

Spotify silently launched in India on Tuesday evening. The app's 'install' button is live on the Google Play Store. Premium membership options are only available to existing customers with one. After an excruciatingly long wait, music streaming service Spotify has finally launched in India. As we noted last night, the company silently rolled out premium plans for the country priced at Rs.

It’s been exactly 12 months since Spotify launched in India, and my, how we’ve grown. There are now more than 6,400 Indian creators usingSpotify for Artists, our platform that lets artists and their teams see who’s listening to their music and take control of their artist profile. Listeners from over 2,300 cities are tuning into more than 350 curated playlists in India—like New Music Hindiand Punjabi 101—and that’s up from 120 at launch. In honor of this anniversary, we dove into some of the trends and themes around a year’s worth of Spotify streaming in India. Here’s what we saw:

Spotify India Plans

1. A lot of love for local artists

Spotify listeners in India have streamed over 130 artists each in the past year. Overall, we found that the top five most-streamed in the country are from India. Topping the list are three beloved Bollywood singers: Arijit Singh, Tanishk Bagchi, and Neha Kakkar. The age group of 35 to 44-year-olds stream Indian artists at a higher rate than any other.

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Globally streamed hits are also very popular in India. The most-streamed international artist in India is Post Malone, who was also Spotify’s most-streamed global artist in 2019; BTS and Taylor Swiftare popular with Indian listeners as well. The most-streamed track in India over the past year is the global smash “Señorita” by Shawn Mendesand Camila Cabello, followed by Arijit Singh and Mithoon’s “Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage” and Sachet Tandon and Parampara Thakur’s“Bekhayali” (both from the soundtrack to the popular Indian film “Kabir Singh”).

2. Music sets the mood

Love songs are a major part of Indian culture, which is why Spotify’s Bollywood Mush playlist is one of the top-streamed playlists among users. Interestingly, listeners in the eastern part of the country—West Bengal, Odisha,Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, Bihar, and Sikkim—have streamed the playlist the most (it seems love rises in the east!).

What’s more, during Diwali, India’s biggest religious celebration, the holiday’s themed playlists—which lean heavily on songs about love and partying—got major traction on the festival’s peak day on October 27, 2019, with plays increasing by almost 4,400%.

Spotify Free In India Language

3. Pressing play on podcasts and pop

India has fired up its podcast lineup, launching its first three Spotify original podcasts in December 2019. 22 Yarns With Gaurav Kapur, Bhaskar Bose, and Love Aaj Kal with Aastha & Ankit were each produced in India to cater to an Indian audience. These podcasts, which are all about pop culture, including cricket, fiction thriller storytelling, and relationship advice, respectively, also made it to the top five on the original podcast charts.

The top three music genres streamed across India are pop, filmi (music from popular Indian movies) and hip-hop. K-Pop also has a growing fan base: Spotify’s most-followed K-Pop playlist, K-Pop Daebak, is a popular choice for Indian listeners. And India is in the top 22% of K-Pop listening in all of Spotify’s markets globally, based on streaming from the past 90 days.

Spotify

From the top-streamed artists to the most popular podcasts in India, see how listening stacks up since we launched in February 2019.

Spotify Free In India Cricket

Download the infographic here.

For the uninitiated, be sure to stream Spotify’s Top Hits Hindi playlist.

Spotify is now finally available in India. The music streaming application is set to take on the likes of Apple Music, Google Play Music and local Saavn platforms.

After a long wait and reports of delay in launch, Spotify is finally available in India. The app silently made its way to Google Play Store and Apple App Store for Indian users on Tuesday evening. Spotify on Wednesday officially announced the availability of the platform in India.

Despite official unavailability in India, Spotify is quite popular in the country with users resorting to VPNs to access the platform. It is also one of the top music streaming apps in the world with 207 million active users. Spotify's presence is however limited with its availability in 79 countries including India. In comparison, its rival Apple Music is present in 113 countries.

Free

If you are planning to join the platform, here are five interesting things you need to know about Spotify's India launch.

Paytm and UPI payment modes

Spotify Free In India

Spotify is free to use with unlimited song skips and 3 minutes of ads per hour. It also has a subscription service called 'Spotify Premium' comes with one month free trial and features like offline downloads and no ads. Spotify gives users payment options like credit and debit cards for monthly subscription. In India, monthly subscription for Spotify Premium is priced at ₹119.

Spotify is also offering top-ups for its paid service which can be paid via Paytm and UPI. Spotify top-up plans include ₹13 for 1 day, ₹39 for seven days, ₹389 for three months and ₹719 for six months. Paytm and UPI are one of the most popular payment methods in India and the localization could reap benefits for the Swedish player.

Competition from local and global players

Spotify Free In India Right Now

Spotify's entry in India comes at a time when users are spoilt with choices for streaming apps. There are many local players like Hungama, Gaana, Airtel's Wynk Music and Jio Saavn. Apps like Wynk Music and Jio come with telco partnership which gives their users free access to the subscription. In addition to this, smartphone brands have tie-ups with apps like Gaana and Hungama for free subscription to their services.

Spotify also competes with Apple Music which has been around in India since 2015. Apple Music comes with family plan of ₹190 month and for up to six members. Spotify hasn't launched its family plan in India as yet. Another global player is Amazon Prime Music which comes bundled through Prime membership.

Student discount

Similar to Apple Music, Spotify also offers discounts on its subscription for college students. Spotify is offering 50% discount on its monthly subscription for students which comes to ₹59 per month. Apple Music also has a similar student plan priced at ₹60 per month.

Spotify-Warner dispute

Ahead of its launch in India, Spotify was reportedly facing legal issues with Warner Music. Warner/Chappel Music moved the Bombay High Court to prevent Spotify from offering its songs in India. The high court however allowed Spotify to launch its services in India, and make a deposit of ₹6.5 crore, Times of India reported.

Spotify Sign Up India

Cheaper than US

Spotify Premium plans come cheap in India. Compared to the US, Spotify Premium is available at $10 (₹700 approximately), while family plan can be availed at $15 (₹1,000 approximately). Spotify also doesn't offer top-up plans in the US.

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