Kshitij Pujari Feb 27, 2019 16:15:52 IST
With the launch of Spotify in India, the music streaming industry in the country sees another worthy competitor entering the fray. Already with the likes of Apple Music, Gaana, Amazon Music, Wynk and more, the streaming space has become quite crowded, and with the merger of Jio and Saavn forming JioSaavn, the Indian audience has a plethora of options to choose from.
Image: AP
Spotify bags the title of the most subscribed music streaming platform in the world, dwarfing industry heavyweights such as Apple, Google, Gaana and JioSaavn. The main attraction to Spotify is its ease of use, elegant UI and a great list of curated playlists. Licensing problems aside, Spotify boasts of a massive music collection, which was more is more than 40 million in 2018, although the company has declined to give an official number.
However, in a market as diverse as India, Spotify will find it difficult to serve everyone in a country as diverse as India. Apps like Gaana and JioSaavn offer music in more than 15 languages while Spotify is bringing up the rear with just content in 7 languages.
One place where Spotify has done well is pricing. Spotify has offered daily, monthly and yearly packs which start from Rs 13, Rs 119 (Rs 129 after the third month) and Rs 1,1189 respectively. There is also a 50 percent student discount available on the monthly subscription package.
These prices are laughable compared to what Spotify charges in the US, which is $10 + taxes for a month (about Rs 800). In India, we see that nearly all competitors are offering around the same price with Gaana and JioSaavn offering the lowest monthly rates of Rs 99.
Whether or not Spotify is a success is something we will see in the long run, but for now, here’s a comparison table which pits Spotify against its counterparts in the Indian market.
| Streaming Service | Spotify | Google Music | JioSaavn | Amazon Music | Gaana | Apple Music |
| Subscriber Count | 207 million (paid 97 million) | 50 million | 100 million | 100 million | 80 million | 56 million |
| Pricing | Rs 13 for 1 day; Rs 119 for 1 month; Rs 1,189 for 1 year | Rs 99 for 1 month | Rs 5 for 1 day; Rs 99 for 1 month; Rs 999 for 1 year | Rs 999 for 1 year (included with Prime) | Rs 99 for 1 month; Rs 999 for 1 year | Rs 120 for 1 month |
| Family Plan | No | Rs 190 (up to 6 people) | No | No | Rs 499 (up to 5 people) | Rs 190 (up to 6 people) |
| Free Features | Listen to all tracks with ads after every sixth song | Listen to curated playlists, Upload your own music | Listen to tracks with ads, Lyrics | No | Listen to tracks with ads, Lyrics | No |
| Paid Features | Unlimited ad-free tracks, unlimited skips, full-range of curated playlists, Download songs offline, HD Audio | Unlimited ad-free tracks, full-range of curated playlists, YouTube Music, Unlimited Radio, Download songs offline | Unlimited ad-free tracks, Download songs offline, HD Audio | Unlimited ad-free tracks, Download songs offline, HD Audio | Unlimited ad-free tracks, Download songs offline, HD Audio | Unlimited ad-free tracks, Download songs offline, HD Audio |
| Max Devices | 5 | 10 | TBC | TBC | 5 | 6 |
| Offline downloads | 10,000 | 50,000 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Music Collection | 40 million | 40 million | 45 million | 40 million | 45 million | 50 million |
| Android/iOS/Desktop app | Yes | Yes (No official desktop app) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (via iTunes on desktop) |
| Maximum Streaming bitrate | 320 kbps (mp3,Premium); 96 kbps (Free, mobile); 160 kbps (Free, PC) | 320 kbps (AAC,all) | 320 kbps (NA,Premium); 160 kbps (Free) | 320 kbps (NA) | 320 kbps (NA,Premium); 160 kbps (Free) | 256 kbps (AAC) |
| Free trial period | 30 days | 30 days | 90 days | No | 30 days | 90 days |
| Podcast support | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Languages | 7 | NA | 15 | 10 | 21 | NA |
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