Industry insiders have reported that Spotify might launch its services in India as early as Aug of 2018. From Prime Music to Play Music almost all global music streaming major are already in India fighting a pitch battle with home grown Gaana, Saavn (now part of Jio Music) and Wynk. Post its listing, Spotify is looking to expand its footprint globally. India is first in the expansion plan, to be followed by entery into South Korean and Russian markets. West Asia and Africa is to follow soon.
According to our sources, much like its launch in Japan, Spotify is going to do a segmented launch with invite only applications downloads to a smaller audience only. Perhaps only 200,000 may be allowed initially. Also Spotify, unlike other international players in India, would like to keep its international library only with little or no content localization.
However the launch may not be as smooth as its Stockholm base executive may have had hoped. Spotify plan to directly license artists and pay advances has irked major music companies. As a result they seem to be thinking to block the territorial license of their IPs into India. This in effect may shorten the Spotify’s library in India considerably.
There is also a ossibility of Spotify of launching its own smart speaker. Spotify is currently compatible with almost every smart speaker on the market, including the Amazon Echo, Google Home and SONOS One. However if it were to launch its own smart speaker, these companies will also be on a course of conflict.
