After Spotify, Google rolls out YouTube Music in India

Google-owned YouTube has officially launched its music streaming service YouTube Music, which is ad-supported, in the country, the search engine giant said in a blog post.

Besides the free version, the company has also introduced a paid membership service, YouTube Music Premium, which is ad-free. It will be available for Rs 99 per month for existing members and for Rs 129 for new members, the blog post added.

Subscribers to the premium service can download videos offline and can access YouTube Originals content.

“You get a YouTube Music Premium membership as part of your subscription each month. And if you use Google Play Music, nothing will change -- you’ll still be able to access all of your purchased music, uploads and playlists in Google Play Music just like always,” it said.

Last year in May, YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc’s Google, had launched its subscription service in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and South Korea.

YouTube Music is currently available in 29 countries. India is one of the firm’s largest user bases, having 245 million monthly active users.

YouTube has introduced its music service in India soon after peer Spotify launched its platform in the country. In less than a week of its launch, Spotify claimed it got on board more than one million users in the country across it free and premium services.

Spotify and YouTube have now stepped into a price-sensitive market crowded by well-funded players such as Reliance Industries’ JioSaavn, Apple Music, Tencent-backed Gaana, Xiaomi-backed Hungama and Amazon Prime Music.

According to media reports, Gaana leads the Indian streaming market with over 80 million monthly users.

Spotify has priced subscription at Rs 119 per month, with student plans that offer 50% discount. It also has a week-long premium subscription of Rs 39 and an annual one of Rs 1,189. JioSaavn offers a free 90-day trial period for Jio users; Gaana offers its service at Rs 99 per month and Amazon has priced its service at Rs 129 per month which comes with other Prime-related offerings.