"We are working on launching in some of the biggest markets in the world... like India"
After Amazon’s quiet launch of Amazon Music, Spotify might be launching their music streaming service in India relatively soon.
Spotify is currently not available in the country although there are several thousand users who use virtual private networks (VPN) to access the service.
During a company presentation on Thursday 15th March 2018, CEO Daniel Ek announced that it was working to launch in markets within India, Russia and Africa.
Daniel said: “We are working on launching in some of the biggest markets in the world, places like India, Russia, and Africa which has a very rich musical culture.”
Seth Farbman, Chief Marketing Officer at Spotify believes that 36% of the 1.3 billion Indian population are aware of the company’s presence.
According to a Deloitte report, India’s music market revenue for streaming is expected to cross Rs. 31 billion (approx. $477.4 million USD, £342.5 million GBP).
It’s an exciting time for the Indian music industry with homegrown streaming services such as Saavn, Gaana and Hungama competing with the likes of Apple Music and Google Play Music.
Tencent Music, partner of music streaming service Gaana has over 120 million paid music streams despite the service being limited to the Chinese market.
Gaana is in an equity partnership with Tencent, which means they own minority stakes in either company.
Spotify already has 71 million paid subscribers, nearly double the amount of Apple Music with 36 million. Amazon Music currently has 16 million users subscribing to its music streaming service.
The company recognises its user base are under 34-years-old which makes India an attractive prospect to launch their platform in line with current demographic trends.
With the current competition for music streaming in India at an all-time high, the Swedish music streaming service is entering a very competitive marketplace.
Previously, Spotify leased office space in Mumbai in 2017 where the company currently has 308 employees in 21 countries worldwide.
Recently, they have started expanding in new markets such as South Africa, Vietnam, Israel and Romania now having access to the music streaming platform.
As Spotify is available in 65 countries, it shows amazing growth for a company that has been around since it was founded in 2009.
Alongside the company’s expansion into new markets, Daniel noted about Spotify becoming a publicly traded company by the 3rd April 2018.
Unlike other public companies who go through an underwriting process with Wall Street, they will directly list themselves for exchange.
There is no exact release date for Spotify’s launch in India albeit they have shown genuine interest in launching the product very soon to the Indian public.
Getting the pricing right is key for Spotify as most of the streaming services in the country are priced around Rs 999 (£11) to Rs 1,200 (£13) per month.
Whilst it does not lack in content and reputation, Spotify should have no problems navigating through an expanding Indian music streaming industry should it officially launch within the next several months.