Spotify have finally launched in India after months of speculation, bringing their renowned music streaming service to 1.3 billion people.

Spotify are trailblazers in music streaming and are leading the way in the West. They’ve been moving further East with their new launches and now they have launched after a long build up in the 2nd most populous country in the world: India.

The launch brings Spotify’s extensive catalogue of music to India with all-new features that are finely tuned to Indian music fans’ personal tastes. These new and exclusive features include:

  • Multi-language music recommendations: Many Indians speak several local languages, so Spotify’s music recommendation engine can now be tuned to Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Indian users can select their preferred language(s) to receive tailored Daily Mix, Home, Radio, and Search results and recommendations.
  • Spotify Free with full control: For the first time on Spotify Free, smartphone users can play every song on demand.
  • Playlists made for India: Our new playlists, expertly curated and regularly updated by our team of Indian music experts, include Indiestan, Rap 91, Namaste Love, Punjabi101, andBollywood Butter, as well as Top Hits in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Punjabi. These sit alongside our celebrated international playlists, including mint, RapCaviar, ¡Viva Latino!, and the This is… artist compilations. Add billions of creator and fan-built playlists to the mix, and Spotify has a playlist for any mood or moment.
  • Spotify goes to the movies: Introducing Starring…, a series of playlists featuring the best music from the most popular Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood, and Punjabi actors. Spotify’s recommendations will also include songs from India’s favorite movies and actors.
  • City playlists: Find out what’s hot in each city, with new algorithmic playlists tracking what’s trending in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangaluru, and Chennai.

Spotify’s founder and CEO, Daniel Ek says: “As Spotify grows, our goal is to bring millions of artists and billions of fans together from every country and background. India has an incredibly rich music culture, and to best serve this market, we’re launching a custom-built experience. Not only will Spotify bring Indian artists to the world, we will also bring the world’s music to fans across India. We have been working towards this goal for quite some time, and I am thrilled with today’s launch.”

Cecilia Qvist, Spotify’s global head of markets, said: “Spotify’s arrival in India is a big step forward in our overall global growth strategy. A fundamental piece of that strategy is staying connected to global culture while allowing room for local adaptation, and we’ve certainly achieved that with our India launch. We’ve worked closely with local teams of researchers, engineers, and cultural tastemakers to ensure this global product is going to be loved, used, and favoured by people all over India, whether they’re listening to local Bollywood and Punjabi hits, or discovering curated global playlists of K-pop or Brazilian funk.”

Last year Spotify launched an office in Mumbai and ever since their launch in the country has been long-awaited. They’ve had a series of rumoured dates and delays, particularly in the past few months. Now listeners in India can enjoy Spotify at last.