The streaming platform, which came to India in late February, has over two million subscribers in the country today. Spotify India’s MD, Amarjit Singh Batra, on why he thinks the platform can lead the way, despite its late entry

Amarjit Singh Batra started his tenure as Spotify India’s MD as early as 2018, well before the app launched in the country this year. For months, would-be users excitedly refreshed their app stores to check whether it was available yet. Batra, former CEO of OLX India, doesn’t believe that Spotify lost out on the first mover’s advantage, given that plenty of options abound in the country. In fact, he believes that even before it came to India, it served as inspiration for local streaming platforms. “And that’s a great compliment,” he says.

But the app’s recent successes — including its announcement this week that it has reached 100 million paying users worldwide — does not mean that it is without its share of woes. In India alone, it was sued by Warner Music Group due to licensing disputes, and recently removed the entire catalogue of local label, Saregama (which owns over 1.2 lakh songs). In Europe, it has accused Apple — whose own music streaming service is its largest global competitor — of not giving the app its due on iOS platforms.

But Batra does not believe that these roadblocks will hamper the company’s growth. The India version alone has two million users and over 40 million songs. “We have about 30,000 new songs added every day,” he points out. And there are also podcasts, a focus point for Spotify HQ. Earlier this year, the company announced that it would be buying Gimlet Media and Anchor, two noteworthy podcasting companies, for a total of $340 million. Batra admits that podcasts are at a nascent stage on the Indian version of the platform, but adds that interest is growing. Education and crime are two popular categories, with international shows like Stuff You Should Know and Serial Killers leading.

Competition is not key

Competition isn’t the main concern for Batra. “Streaming platforms and content providers need to work together to make sure that we are able to adapt to the changing consumer needs.” The challenge for the moment, he believes, is getting a country that’s largely hooked on to music piracy to shift its listening habits. India today is not dissimilar to Sweden when Spotify entered that market 10 years ago — at a time when piracy was rampant in the country.

At the time, it was the ‘freemium’ model, with free services that bring users on board first and then convince them to pay for more services, that helped stem the tide of illegal music. “It’s a good testament to the fact that if you provide people with a great experience, they will move from privacy to paid. That is the fundamental shift that India needs,” says Batra.

It also means users need some persuasion to pay. In India, that meant lowering the cost of the paid option (at ₹119 per month, it is the cheapest across all Spotify markets), and providing more services in the free option (like on-demand listening) compared to other markets.

Local flavour

Also included is a hyperlocal marketing strategy with carefully-constructed advertisements that target niche audiences. The ‘There’s a Playlist for That’ campaign (see intro) promises users a level of intimate curation. “After doing the consumer research, we know that this is not a market you can paint with one brush,” admits Batra. “We looked at different parts of the country that we wanted to reach out to. Every few kilometres, there's a different context we can create. It’s a very contextually and hyper-locally executed campaign.”

The future for India — a strategic market for Spotify HQ — is growing the number of music listeners. “We would want to be the best platform in the minds of consumers in terms of when they think about music and podcasts,” he says, adding that the company will also attempt to boost India’s music on the global market, to give it the same kind of international appeal that Latin music and K-Pop enjoy today.