Swedish audio-streaming platform Spotify has quietly launched in India but Warner Music Group and Indian music labels are having none of it.
Spotify has faced an array of different challenges in the 11 months since it announced its plans to break into India's lucrative, but difficult to access, music market. Local Indian labels and publishers resisted Spotify's entry but the biggest hurdle Spotify had to surmount was that from Warner's publishing division, Warner/Chappell Music.
This week, Warner sued to stop Spotify's use of its catalog. Spotify had tried to obtain rights to the catalog using a controversial amendment to the Indian copyright act that allows broadcasters to obtain licenses without the copyright owner's consent.
But to do this, Spotify had to prove it's a "broadcaster" as defined in India's Copyright Act of 1957. Under this law, a "broadcast" is defined only as a "communication to the public," a definition that qualified Spotify.
Bombay's also supported Spotify's contention. Spotify went on to use Warner's catalog but was required to track usage of Warner's music and pay royalties but stopped when Warner sued. At present, Spotify is live in India, but without the Warner/Chappell Music catalog.
India's music streaming market currently has around 150 million users, and that's more than enough to go to court over
Spotify's service is cheap even by Indian standards. It can cost as little a $1.39 (99 rupees) per month for a one-year plan. Spotify also has a plan that allows subscribers to buy just a single day of access for $0.18 (13 rupees); one week for $0.55 (39 rupees) and one month for $1.81 (129 rupees), among other plans.
A student plan is even cheaper and offers up to a 50 percent discount per month. Unfortunately for Spotify's Indian fans, the only payment Spotify generally accepts for subscriptions is Visa or Mastercard. There's the option of using Paytm or UPI to buy pre-paid plans.
Premium membership is only available to existing Spotify users. New users can still apply for the free version but will have to wait to access Premium benefits such as higher quality audio and unlimited track skips.
Users can access multilingual music recommendations and playlists featuring music from popular Bollywood movies.
"Indians love music. It's an inherent part of our lifestyle and culture, whether we pray, work, or relax," said Spotify India's managing director Amarjit Singh Batra.
"The mobile internet revolution has led to a rapid rise in the number of connected Indians, making music streaming the preferred way to enjoy the music here."
