Music streaming apps have India rocking to new tunes

The pandemic has definitely redefined the music listening arena in India making it an exciting space both for the creators and the consumers.

New Delhi: The rapid speed at which international music streaming apps are burgeoning in India, it’s becoming one of the leading music consumers in the world. Each player is coming with its own unique specialty with cutting-edge competition, yet, leading to more options for the consumers.

While, the recent entrant Moodagent from Denmark has the advantage of ‘Artificial Intelligence’, Tidal’s unique to ‘High Fidelity’. However, Amazon Music boasts of ‘High Definition’ quality, Spotify’s ‘Only You’ feature is a personalised experience based on users changing listening habits. Apple smartly launched lossless and spatial audio, and Dolby Atmos segment at no additional cost, while other players were charging extra for the feature.

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The pandemic has definitely redefined the music listening arena in India making it an exciting space both for the creators and the consumers.

Spotify spokesperson tells us what makes India a lucrative market for international players. “India is one of the fastest-growing and most important markets for Spotify. There is a hunger in the Indian market to discover new content.

The music market is going through fundamental shifts, wherein outside of film music, independent music is thriving. Followers of RADAR India, one of our biggest indie playlists and part of a larger initiative, grew by 500 per cent since May last year. India is also moving fast in terms of increasing internet penetration, content consumption, and consumer expectations of brands. All of these factors make India so special.”

Spotify has occupied a huge space within just 2.5 years in India with over 10,000 Indian artists profiles and 36 original podcasts. “With every campaign, our goal has been to become as local as possible. On the music front, we’ve invested deeply to work with the local artist and label community, whether film, non-film, or independent, to educate them on how best they can use the app,” says the Spotify spokesperson.

Singer Shilpa Rao shares how the dynamics of music listening in the pandemic have led to a major shift. “The main experience of attachment with a song is on the phone, when you driving or in your home. Now, you are getting a chance to go the entire album at ease and gravitate towards the music you like,” Shilpa says.

Shilpa has delivered hits like Malang (Dhoom 3), Bulleya (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil), and the latest Phuljhadiyon (Mimi) to name a few.

The various factors combined conclude that the music steaming apps are an upward trend and India is a lucrative market for these players.