Spotify launches in India in the middle of a legal battle against Warner

Spotify is launching itself discreetly in India, despite a legal recourse from Warner Music Group that could prevent major artists like Cardi B from being excluded from the platform. A number of people in India said they were able to download the application on Android and create an account, although Spotify did not officially announce the availability of the service.

Spotify announced for the first time its intention to expand into the Indian market in March 2018, but had to face repeated delays due to the unique nature of the Indian music rights market. Dozens of local Indian labels and publishers make it difficult to gather all rights. There are several regional languages ​​to deal with and only a small percentage of Indians have a credit card.

But the biggest delay was an agreement with Warner Music Group, without which Spotify could not go to India at all. Yesterday, Warner filed a lawsuit against Spotify to prevent the use of its catalog by Spotify, which was seeking rights through a controversial amendment to the Indian Copyright Act that allows broadcasters to obtain licenses without the consent of the rights holder. The question is whether or not Spotify is a "broadcaster" in the 1957 Copyright Law in India. In the law, a "broadcast" is only defined as a "communication to the public".

The Bombay High Court said that Spotify would still be allowed to launch for the moment, according to The times of Indiaand it seems that Spotify has not wasted time doing it. Spotify will have to put aside money to pay royalties and track the use of Warner's music while the case goes on in court.

In India, Spotify's pricing structure offers much more payment flexibility than other markets. The service can cost as little as 99 rupees (US $ 1.39) per month for a one year package. But the service also offers the opportunity to buy a single day access for 13 rupees (0.18 dollar), a week for 39 rupees (0.55 dollar) and a single month for 129 rupees (1 , $ 81), among other packages. A student plan offers up to 50% discount per month. At present, it seems that the only payment accepted for subscriptions is Visa or Mastercard, but it is also possible to use Paytm or UPI to buy prepaid plans.

At this moment, according to Business Insider India, The Premium subscription is only available for existing Spotify users. New users can still sign up for the free version, but will have to wait to be able to access premium benefits such as better sound and unlimited track jumps.

Ishan Agarwal of Gurgaon, India, tweeted a screen capture of the Spotify Premium purchase screen in India this morning. Agarwal has provided other images to The edge showing the payment page displaying the Spotify India URL with a sample of music that appears in the application. Categories include pop, rock and indie, with Specific genres in India like Tamil and Bollywood. At the bottom of the app's screen there's a message saying, "We are working hard to stream more music to Spotify in your area."

A number of people on Reddit also wrote that they had been able to access the service on Android. Other people who are already Spotify customers have been able to access the purchase page in change the country associated with their profile in India.

We contacted Spotify and Warner Music for comments.

Image: Ishan Agarwal

Pictures: Ishan Agarwal