Music lovers have never had it so good.

With the rise of affordable internet and availability of quality original music, there’s a steady flow of global investments into the music streaming platforms space. Thanks to these trends, an increasing number of people are consuming music on their mobile phones.

Chinese technology giant Tencent has invested $115 million in music streaming service Gaana. Times Internet, Gaana’s parent, will also make further investments in the service.

In November last year, music streaming service Saavn roped in two new strategic investors — New York-based Senvest Management LLC and global entertainment company Endeavor.

Earlier this week, Amazon launched its music streaming service in India this week at no additional charge for Amazon Prime members.

“Music streaming is the future of music consumption globally. In India, we are only 10 per cent of the way towards building a business useful for 500 million Indians,” said Gaana CEO Prashan Agarwal. Gaana has more than 60 million monthly active users and the company will use the funds from Tancent for technology development, particularly focusing on artificial intelligence to personalise the music experience for consumers.

Gaana aims to cross 200 million active users in three years. It draws a bulk of listeners through its free music service and generates advertising revenues, whereas newer entrants like Apple Music and Google Music charge a subscription fee.

Martin Lau, President of Tencent Holdings, said: “As more affordable mobile data plans are driving smartphone penetration in India, we believe growth in the music streaming market will accelerate.”

Mobile push

“There is a tectonic shift happening in the Indian streaming markets,” said Sahas Malhotra, Director, Amazon Music India.

“Data has become affordable and we expect more consumers to go for it. Music, therefore, is an integral part of our expansion. Also, in India, there is huge library of content, both regional and Bollywood.”

Amazon has inked deals with the top five labels including T-Series, Times Music, Tips Music and Sony Music. It has also inked a host of regional music content deals with various partners.

Global players like Spotify too are looking to enter India. Last year, the digital music company set up an office in Mumbai. Others, like Airtel Wynk, Vodafone Music and Reliance Jio, are firming up plans to strengthen both video and music content, as well.

A report titled ‘Digital Media: Rise of On-demand Content’, by consulting firm Deloitte, said India’s digital music industry is expected to reach ₹3,100 crore in revenue while the number of online music listeners is expected to reach 273 million by 2020.

Original content

Music app Hungama too is betting big on its original content. The company said its property is being consumed by 30 million people.

Recently, it launched Hungama Spotlight, a show celebrating live musical performances by famous artists.

“We launched Hungama Spotlight to substantiate the strong connect that we have built with our consumers, by making their favourite artists more accessible to them than ever before.

“With an aim to engage the global audience, Hungama Spotlight will bring artists from across the world to share their stories, while also creating more engaging content experiences for our consumers, as the space grows dynamically,” said Siddhartha Roy, CEO, Hungama.com.

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