Rumours about Spotify’s entry into India have been doing the rounds since last year, but it’s only now that the music streaming service has finally made its way into the country. The app is live now for both Android and iOS platforms, and can even be accessed through your PC browsers. And just like other apps like Saavn and Gaana, you can listen to music for free, but can upgrade to Premium in order to grab additional features.
Spotify features a library of over 40 million songs, and its USP lies in the way it recommends you songs that you may like. It can moreover integrate with services like Google Maps, Tinder, Instagram and others. To announce its arrival in India, the company has released two video campaigns featuring some of the top artists in India, including the likes of Armaan Malik, Badshah, Neha Kakkar, Ankur Tewari, Vishal-Shekhar and others.
Daniel Ek, Spotify founder and CEO, said in a statement, “As Spotify grows, our goal is to bring millions of artists and billions 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 willSpotify bring Indian artists to the world, we’ll also bring the world’s music to fans across India. Spotify’s music family just got a whole lot bigger.”
On the free version of Spotify, users can listen to all the songs from the library on all platforms, apart from getting personalised playlists and recommendations. They will even receive access to playlists created bySpotify’s local music experts and a worldwide community of music fans. But if you go for the Premium version, you’ll be able to listen to your music offline and ad-free. The Premium version also provides support for high-quality streaming at 320kbps.
Subscription prices are starting at Rs. 119 per month, while a one-year plan will cost you Rs. 1,189 (effectively Rs. 99 per month). Other plans have also been introduced, like a one-week subscription costing Rs. 39, a three-month plan costing Rs. 389 and a six-month plan costing Rs. 719. Students who will upload valid ID cards will receive 50 percent discounts on Spotify Premium. The family plans that are available in other countries are still not available in India.
Spotify is of course offering a 30-day trial right now at the much-loved cost of free.
