Spotify are reportedly expanding into India and it could be as soon as the next six months that the massive territory get’s the West’s favourite music streaming service.

A new article from Variety reports that Spotify are planning to launch in India within the next 6 months after adding 13 new markets to their 78-strong list of territories where their music streaming services are available. With their expected launch Spotify will also reportedly be extending their free trial period for new users to Premium in India, more than their standard 30-day free trial period.

In March this year Spotify opened an office in Mumbai after years of suggestions that Spotify would launch in India at some-point. With 300 employees in their Mumbai office Spotify clearly have a priority there and now, according to local insiders, the news is abuzz in the office that within the next 6 months Spotify will launch their beloved music streaming service in the country with over 1 billion potential listeners.

It was back in April that we last reported on Spotify’s inevitable launch in India, after Daniel Ek said at their annual presentation: “We are working on launching in some of the biggest markets in the world, places like India, Russia, and Africa which has a very rich musical culture.”

When they do launch in India Spotify will have to compete with their existing rivals like Google Play Music and Amazon who have already launched their streaming services in the territory. In addition there will be local competitors who have already carved out a large presence, like Saavn which is the top streaming service in the country and has a partnership with Amazon and is even partnered with another giant Indian streaming service, JioMusic.

Spotify are one of the world leaders in music streaming with over 160 million users around the world, almost half of them paying Premium subscribers. Adding a territory with 1.3 billion will no doubt be a significant move for Spotify if they are picked up by the people. Spotify are no doubt hoping that the launch goes well as they continue to make a loss and the pressure mounts the bigger they get.