Spotify inks licensing deal with Saregama for India market

Music streaming service Spotify on Monday said it has signed a licensing partnership with Saregama for the India market.

The partnership will enable Spotify users in India to access Saregama's entire catalogue that spans across film, Carnatic, Hindustani classical and devotional music in over 25 languages, a statement said.

"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," Spotify Director of Global Licensing Paul Smith said.

Spotify has 286 million users globally, including 130 million subscribers. Spotify users in India will now be able to listen to artists like Lata Mangeshkar, RD Burman, Mohammed Rafi, Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Kalyanji-Anandji, Hemant Kumar and others. They can also tune into Spotify's playlists including This Is Kishore Kumar, This Is Asha Bhosle, Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Starring Rishi Kapoor, Disco Deewane, Punjabi Legacy, and Old Is Gold, among others.

"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," Saregama India Managing Director Vikram Mehra said.