Spotify got a million Indians to try its app in a week — but they will only stay if the price is right
- Spotify has managed to reign in a million users within one week of its launch in India.
- One of the reasons could be the localisation of Spotify’s premium subscription model.
- Looking at how other brands have localised their pricing for India also sheds some light onto Spotify’s success.
In the first week of its
$4 in India, Spotify has reportedly garnered a million users — despite its
$4 with Warner Music Group. Even though Spotify met a few speed bumps prior to its launch in the country, its robust beginning could be the result of its competitive pricing strategy.
It’s not just about how Spotify’s
$4 stack up against its music-streaming competitors like JioSaavn and Gaana but about how Spotify has localised its pricing model to India’s users.
In the United States, a Spotify costs $9.99 (₹700) per month but in the India the monthly subscription cost is only ₹119 — that’s 80% cheaper than its price in the US. In both cases, you do get a 30-day trial to figure out whether or not it’s worth the money.
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One
$4 is that Spotify charges only what a market can bear by prices set according to each country’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP).
Netflix
While in the US the monthly subscription cost for Netflix is $7.99 (₹561), the same subscription is only marginally cheaper in India at ₹500. Taking the library size into consideration, that does make India the third most
$4 in terms of cost-per-title among countries where the video streaming service is available according to a report by Comparitech.
But, in terms of being cheap in absolute value, India is only 17.7% percent cheaper than the average cost of monthly Netflix subscription around the world — ranking it seventh below Brazil, Colombia and even Canada.
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Even so, Netflix has reiterated that it has
$4 to lower prices in India in any of its three subscription models — basic, standard and premium.
Despite being in the country since 2016, there are only half a million Netflix subscribers in India.
Amazon Prime
Amazon, on the other hand, has done a better job of toning down its prices for India. In fact, India has the
$4 Amazon Prime subscription in the world at ₹129 per month, which is 73% cheaper than the average monthly subscription rate.
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