Amazon sets to rule the e-business with its plan to launch Amazon Prime Music in India in 2018. Already Amazon has acquired the film rights of T-series for the next three years.
As a part of the expanding plan, Amazon is having several discussions with the leading Indian record labels like the T - series to acquire the music rights. Amazon Prime Music will need to face a tough competition with the leading Indian music streaming apps like Gaana, Saavn and Apple music. In the United States, Amazon Prime Music was launched in 2014.
Amazon didn't hold the complete music streaming right from T-series according to The Time of India. "It's non-exclusive rights, just like we have given to the other music streaming platforms like Saavn, Gaana, Apple iTunes, and so on, for a specific time period... could be two-three years," says Bhushan Kumar, managing director at T-Series.
The ET has reported that Amazon has allotted an amount of Rs. 2,000 crore for the launch of Amazon Prime Music in India. Amazon won't be investing much in music streaming app as it invests on Amazon video service according to the analysts. The existing Indian music streaming apps got their own artists and entertainment shows which may give Amazon a tough time to rule the field.
The online music listeners are expected to be tremendously huge in number in the near future and Amazon is expected to make a revenue of Rs. 3,100 crore in the digital music industry by the year 2020. Currently, 28 million are actively using Gaana and they are expected to make it grow with the introduction of two new artists in the coming months. Amazon also makes the big moves with tactical offers with the entry into the music streaming app.
Amazon Prime Music provides globally offline playback and ad-free playlists. All the latest weekly releases can be accessed by the user. Amazon claims of a collection of 10 million songs in Amazon Prime Music but currently it offers only 2 million songs. The members of Amazon's Prime shipping and video service have to pay $7.99 for its subscription, but whereas Gaana's subscription is RS. 99 a month and Rs. 120 per month for Saavn's subscription.
