It is time to uninstall the VPNs and modified Spotify APKs, for you will not be required to revert to the pirate life every time you want to catch the tunes. That’s right, dear readers, the excruciating wait is over! SPOTIFY is finally available in India.
What is Spotify and why is it relevant?
Spotify- founded in 2006 (and launched in 2008) by a team at Stockholm, Sweden- led by Daniel Ek- is an audio streaming platform, that provides DRM-protected music and podcasts from record labels and media companies. It is a popular choice owing to it’s vast collection of songs, beautiful interface and witty advertisements.
Spotify had been holding back on its Indian release because of complications with music licensing. Launching in a new market involves thousands of hours of legal and technical paperwork and negotiations spanning many companies. With India being a populous country, it therefore had an enormously complex label landscape.
Spotify needed major labels to allow them to have their music on the service, and until they had convinced the big sharks of music -ie, the labels like T-Series, Sony Music Company to name a few- to be on board with the idea of allowing their music to be streamed, Spotify was unable to launch.
Now that the app has finally legally released in India, it is expected to outperform major contenders like Wynk, Gaanaa and Saavn owing primarily to its super-intuitive user interface. Moreover, Spotify boasts of a catalogue of over forty million songs, in a plethora of languages, and has something that satisfies fans of all genres- and hence keeps them coming back- to listen to more of their favourite music.
Further, the algorithms used by Spotify are particularly proficient at picking out what a consumer should listen to next, owing to efficient data collection and its implementation by the app.
What’s the Plan?
Despite the fact that the Indian version offers benefits like unlimited skips and freedom to ‘seek’ within the song, there are still minor drawbacks of using Spotify Free, such as songs not being available for download, or some tracks not being available for streaming. And ads. Lots of 30 second ads that one just cannot skip.
For such reasons, Spotify offers Premium Plans, the details of which are given below. (The subscriptions to any of the following Premium Plans can be cancelled at any time)
- Premium Plan: This plan includes a 30 day free trial, after which, an amount of ₹119 will get deducted.
- Student Premium: if you’re a student on a shoestring budget, fret not. Spotify has you covered. All you have to do is provide the necessary details of your university enrollment, and you can avail the Premium membership at a reduced price of ₹59 per month. Save money. Make your parents proud.
- Prepaid Premium: For the commitment phobic, Spotify also offers prepaid premium memberships, starting at just ₹13 per day.
Starting Troubles
If you’re looking to rock out to Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir or find your next caption in Katy Perry’s newest release, you might have to consider using another streaming platform. Spotify is currently undergoing a legal battle. Two days ahead of their India launch, Spotify was sued by Warner Bros in the Bombay High Court over certain music rights.
Warner has requested the court for an injunction to prevent Spotify from offering songs by its roster of song writers.
“As Spotify grows, our goal is to bring millions of artists and billions of fans together from every country and background,” says Daniel Ek, Spotify founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). “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, we’ll also bring the world’s music to fans across India. Spotify’s music family just got a whole lot bigger.”
One can only hope that the issues get resolved, so that India can, too, continue to enjoy their favourite music like the world does: streamed on Spotify.
