Music streaming apps make 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.

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.

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 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.

Ritnika Nayan, CD baby, director, market development India, elaborates on what makes India a rewarding space.

"Music is a big part of the Indian culture - whether its film industry, traditional, folk, classical or indie music. Everyone consumes music in India. If you look at the data and mobile penetration across the country; it makes total sense for music apps to come into the market as it can be a very lucrative endeavour," says Ritnika.

Gaurav Balani, bass guitarist of 'Parikrama' band agrees, "There is literally a listener for all kinds of music in our country due to the cultural significance. Not to forget the major footprint of the Bollywood music industry, which accounts for a major listener base in India."

Singer Apeksha Dandekar credits the shift in music consumption to multiple browsing options and the emergence of independent music adding freshness. Apeksha says, "There are definitely more options to stream music and subscription models are allowing people to access different kinds of music more easily. I think it's great that independent music is also coming back with a vengeance and is being appreciated."

The playback singer has films like 'Bheja Fry 2', 'Singh is Bling', 'Zubaan' to her credit.

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," says Shilpa.

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