Spotify has fortified its catalog of Indian music following a global licensing deal with leading music/film company, T-Series. The arrangement, announced on Monday, adds over 160,000 songs ranging from Bollywood soundtracks to non-film artist content to Spotify's library.

T-Series controls one of the biggest shares of the music market in India, sources tell Billboard. A distribution pact with the company strengthens its Indian music catalog ahead of an impending launch in the world's second-most populous nation.

According to Spotify, more than 4 million users globally regularly listen to Indian music content on the service. In June, it rolled out an Indian music hub, Desi, which houses numerous playlists covering Bollywood, bhangra classics, sitar music and hip-hop, among other genres. The flagship Desi Hits playlist has over 217,000 followers.

"One of the ways Spotify has helped revolutionise 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," said Paul Smith, director, head of International licensing at Spotify. "Having T-Series on Spotify is hugely significant and shows our commitment towards providing the very best music for our users."

Added T-Series chairman and managing director Bhushan Kumar, "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."

Spotify will have plenty of competition when it launches in India in March. Just last month saw the official merger of leading services Saavn and JioMusic, to form JioSaavn, and Google Play Music, Gaana, Amazon Prime, Wynk and Apple Music are competing there as well, though YouTube remains the most popular service.