Spotify, the popular music streaming platform developed by Swedish company, has signed up a deal with one of the biggest film and music companies in India, T-Series, for its entire music catalogue. The deal has been signed ahead of Spotify’s plans to enter Indian market. In November, a report claimed that the company was looking to launch its services in India over the next six months.
Even, the Bloomberg had then reported about Spotify’s talks with T-Series, which in fact was also confirmed by Bhushan Kumar, the Chairman and Managing Director of record label T-Series. Now as reported by Variety on Monday, Spotify Inc. has announced the official tie-up with T-Series.
“One of the ways Spotify has helped revolutionize music discovery is through its ability to connect millions of fans with the best music and artists from all over the world in a way that just wasn’t possible before streaming,” says Paul Smith, Director, Head of International Licensing at Spotify. “Today’s deal with T-Series significantly strengthens our Indian music catalogue, bringing Bollywood to more than 200 million Spotify users worldwide. Having T-Series on Spotify is hugely significant and shows our commitment towards providing the very best music for our users.”
Spotify and T-series partnership is meant for users worldwide and not just India. Founded in the early 1980s, the popular label T-Series offers more than 160,000 songs in its catalogue.
Not just that, T-series’ YouTube channel has over 80 million subscribers and has over 58 billion times. The T-series YouTube was launched in 2006. “We are bullish about India’s most popular music company tying up with the world’s most popular music streaming service. We are confident that together we will be able to reach new markets and spread the love for Indian music far and wide,” said Bhushan Kumar, T-Series.
To get users onboard in India, Spotify is said to offer an extended free trial period, longer than the 30 days of full-access, than what it gives users in Vietnam and South Africa. The first report of Spotify’s India debut surfaced last year in March. The company has already opened an office in Mumbai and reportedly hired 300 people.
