Most Indians Like Apps That Offer Music Streaming for Free

The latest report on music streaming apps in India says that most people don’t want to pay for services.

Which music app can keep the party going?

(Photo: The Quint)

India might be flooded with plenty of music apps, but people still have a preference for one in particular and that is Gaana. With the launch of YouTube Music and Spotify in the country, we’ve already seen other platforms slashing prices of their annual plans. This hyper competition is only going to help more people sign up for music streaming services.

The report titled Music Streaming Apps Survey 2019 from CMR in India, has been culled out after speaking to over 2,500 respondents from top eight cities and spread across different age groups and gender.

Interestingly, the report from CMR also suggests that Spotify has its work cut out to connect with users in India, who can already consider Gaana, JioSaavn and even YouTube Music.

In terms of the listening patterns, people questioned in the survey have said they spend over 20 to 30 percent of their time on music. Out of this, majority are listen to it while in transit (cab/metro ride to office and back), while others are happy streaming music at home or at their work place.

Top Music Streaming Apps Preferred

• Gaana: 25 percent
• Apple Music: 20 percent
• YouTube: 20 percent
• Wynk: 14 percent

The fact that 20 percent people saw YouTube as their go-to platform for music, Google can expect a good response for its recently launched YouTube Music app, which unlike Amazon Prime Music and Apple Music, can be accessed for free on mobile and desktop.

Free, or almost free, music is what consumers seek. An overwhelming majority of those surveyed indicated that they would not like to pay for music.

CMR Music Streaming Apps Survey 2019

It was surprising to see that both Amazon Prime Music and JioSaavn weren’t mentioned anywhere in the report, especially when Reliance Jio is offering its streaming service to over 280 million users on its network for free and Amazon’s Prime membership for Rs 999 a year bundles music for its consumers.

This is where Gaana scores higher than its rivals, and it helps that most of its functions and content is available without users required to spend any money.

But those who’re even remotely interested in paying for music services are people who are looking for the best value for their money, which, for the Indian consumer is not surprising at all.

If a music streaming app can offer a strong library/catalogue and key features, more than 50 percent of those surveyed said they’ll be willing to pay for it. That is around 1,250 users among the 2,500 surveyed for the report. It’s still early days for the music streaming business in the country, but as a consumer, it has never been better.