Spotify and T-Series Sign Global Content Deal

Streaming giant Spotify’s prep for its upcoming India entry includes a global content deal with Indian music label T-Series. The deal will make T-Series’ 160,000-song catalogue–which includes Bollywood soundtracks, regional soundtracks as well as non-film albums and content from emerging artists–available to Spotify’s global audience of over 200 million.

Spotify is rumored to be launching in India as early as next month and access to India’s biggest music label’s massive database of songs could allow the platform to gain a strong foothold despite its late entry into the country. The Swedish streaming giant will be competing with powerful local players like Gaana, JioSaavn and Wynk in addition to international bigwigs like Apple Music and Amazon Prime, to gain the Indian audience’s attention.

“We are bullish about India’s most popular music company tying up with the world’s most popular music streaming service,” chairman and managing director of T-Series, Bhushan Kumar, said in a statement. “We are confident that together we will be able to reach new markets and spread the love for Indian music far and wide.”

Last year Spotify began the process of popularizing Indian music on its global platform with the launch of Desi, an Indian music hub that counts more than 930,000 followers and includes its own playlist, Desi Hits. But to stand out in India where Bollywood and regional music playlists are aplenty, Spotify will have to rely on its brand reputation and the current hype around it’s long-awaited launch in the country. Paul Smith, director and Head of International Licencing at Spotify, believes the platform’s edge in music discovery could be the key.

“One of the ways Spotify has helped revolutionize 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 Smith in a statement. “Today’s deal with T-Series significantly strengthens our Indian music catalogue, bringing Bollywood to more than 200 million Spotify users worldwide. Having T-Series on Spotify is hugely significant and shows our commitment towards providing the very best music for our users.”

In addition to T-Series, Spotify is reportedly acquiring licences to music from various other music labels to add as much variety to its library as possible.