Music streaming service Spotify has struck a licensing deal with Saregama for the India market, enabling the company to offer the label’s music catalogue on its platform.
As per the deal, Spotify will get access to more than 100,000 music tracks across various genres like Film, Carnatic, Hindustani classical and devotional music in over 25 languages. This includes songs from artists like Lata Mangeshkar, R.D. Burman, Mohammed Rafi, Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kalyanji-Anandji, and Hemant Kumar among others.
It’s worth noting that the Swedish music streaming major had to take down songs owned by Saregama in April last year, following a copyright infringement case filed by the RP Sanjiv Goenka Group company over failed deal talks. That said, Spotify already had a deal in place to offer Saregama’s music catalogue in International markets through a distributor, a company spokesperson told ETtech.
“We are happy to partner with Spotify and make our entire catalogue available for listeners across the globe, now including India. Saregama holds the largest library of films and non-film songs in over 25 languages ranging from old classics to new age music. We are sure, listeners would be really happy with this addition” said Vikram Mehra, Managing Director, Saregama India.
In March, Spotify had also renewed its global licensing partnership with Warner Music Group, which included the India market, thereby ending its long-drawn legal battle in the country. Spotify also signed a deal with Shemaroo Entertainment last month to offer its subscribers access to over 25,000 songs across multiple genres and languages.
During the company’s earnings call last month, Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek said that they have “greatly” improved their music catalogue in the India market, which is having a positive impact on its users in the country.
“With the full Saregama catalogue available on Spotify India, our users will not only find their favourite retro music across local languages, but also be able to discover more old-school songs through Spotify’s locally curated playlists – both editorial and algorithmic,” said Paul Smith, Director of Global Licensing, Spotify.
In India, Spotify competes with players like Gaana*, JioSaavn, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Bytedance’s Resso, and Hungama.
*Disclosure: Gaana was incubated by Times Internet that owns ETtech
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