MUMBAI: Indian’s wait to welcome one of the most popular global streaming apps is finally over as Spotify marches into the India market today. The music app, which is now live in India and available on both iOS, android and Windows devices, has brought some lucrative premium plans to attract India users apart from the equally attractive app design.
To start with, Spotify app will be offering the first month trial for free, post which, the app has some aggressively priced plans for the users to choose from. The monthly subscription offered by Spotify is priced at R 119/month, which is just one rupee less than that given by Apple Music. Besides, there are Pre-paid plans, where users can buy plans for a day, week, month, three months, six months, one year etc., based on their requirement. The pricing and plans are listed as below.
Prepaid plan
1 day – Rs 13
1 week – Rs 39
1 month – Rs 129
3 month – Rs 389
6 months – Rs 719
1 year – Rs 1189
Student Plan
Spotify India is offering 50% discount on the monthly subscription of the app for students. It is priced at Rs 59/month with an option of Pre-pay costing Rs 66 for 30 days.
Pay your way
Spotify’s another striking feature is the ease of paying. Now Pay your way by either subscribing or pre-pay with Paytm, UPI or other options.
This strategy of pricing as well as ease of paying will surely attract more users to opt for Spotify in India. Spotify makers have smartly reduced prices as well given easy paying options, including Pre-Py and student plan to give a tough competition to the existing players in the Indian music apps market.
Striking features of Spotify app
After the pricing, its time to surf through the Spotify app, which indeed has a visually appealing, fast database like the one tried by us on phone. Here is a procedure one has to go through and what each section of the app has in store.
Choose Languages for music
After creating an account or log in through Facebook, one will be prompted to choose languages from the eighth listed. Spotify’s Indian version offers music, songs in eight Indian languages namely Bengali, English, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu. On can choose a few or all the languages based on their music taste.
Choose 3 or more artists
The app allows you choose three or more artists from the lot provided. It includes both Indian and international artists. Based on your selection it offers songs of the artists, selected by you, in Made For You category, which is further divided into three lists namely - Your Daily Mix 1, Your Daily Mix 2 and Your Daily Mix 3 respectively.
Home
The Home screen of Spotify shows Made For You playlists, Popular and trending, Recommended for you and Editor’s pick respectively.
Your Library
Your Library comprises of following sections - Playlist, Artist, Albums and Podcasts.
Playlist
Users can create a playlist here. You will be asked to select a name for your playlist and can then add songs to your list.
Artist
All the artists selected by the user appear in this section.
Albums
Albums user has liked live will appear here. There are various categories of albums including songs for a specific mood, workout etc. Pop, Punjabi, Bollywood, Party, Electronic/Dance, Tamil, Telugu, Jazz, Blurs, Classical, Soul, Workout, Chill, Focus, Indie, Sleep, Summer, Dinner etc., are some of the categories available in the Albums section of Spotify. One can choose based on their choice of music, mood etc.
Podcasts
Another interesting feature is Podcasts. In this section, all the podcasts liked live by users will appear here. Different categories available in Podcasts include – Top podcasts, Stories, Educational, Music, Lifestyle & Health, Games, Business & Technology, Arts & Entertainrment, Sports & Recreation, Comedy, Kids & Family, News & Politics.
Benefit of Spotify’s flexible premiums
-Unlimited music download
-Listen anywhere (speakers, TV or any devices)
-Ease of offline playback (save your data)
-Listen without any interruption (ad-free music)
-Enjoy nonstop music
-Three times better sound quality
Well, with pocket-friendly offers and an uninterrupted music listening experience, Spotify’s launch in India looks promising and will surely attract more users. The coming days will give a clear picture, but Spotify has commenced its innings in India with a good business strategy!