Google Play Music is late in India, but it is cheaper than Apple Music and others
Streaming services are growing at an exponential rate in the country. According to a report by consulting firm Delloite, music streaming services in India are expected to have a whopping 273 million subscribers by 2020.
The streaming space in India is already populated by formidable competitors such as Saavn, Gaana, Airtel Music and Apple Music. Even Amazon is set to join the party soon with its Prime Music service sometime in 2018.
While extremely late to the game, Google to aims capture market share fast via its disruptive pricing. It is currently one of the cheapest music streaming services in the country, with a price of just Rs 89/month.
To further sweeten the deal, Google is also offering free cloud storage with a Play Music All Access subscription. Users will be able to upload 50,000 of their tracks to the cloud and then stream them anywhere, anytime using the Play Music application. Apple offers a very similar service with Apple Music as well.
It must be noted though that the current price of Rs 89 per month is a part of an introductory offer and will only be applicable users who sign up within the first 45 days. Also, Play Music only comes with a 30 day trial as compared to the mammoth 90 days offers by its primary competitor - Apple Music.
Let's compare how Google Play Music's pricing stacks up against the competition:
Apple Music
When Apple released Apple Music in India, many were shocked at how reasonable the prices were compared to the amount Apple was charging in the US. While US users have to shell out 9.99 dollars per month for a single subscription, Indian users have to pay just Rs 120 per month.
While extremely late to the game, Google Play Music aims to capture market share fast via its disruptive pricing
Apple also has two other plans on offer. Users can avail of a family subscription for Rs 190 per month which is actually a great deal as it allows unrestricted Apple Music access for up to 5 family members, effectively reducing the individual cost to just Rs 30 per month. Additionally, for students, the subscription cost is halved from Rs 120 to Rs 60.
While all other streaming services offer only a 30 day trial, Apple Music offers a much more substantial three months of free service for new users.
Gaana
An Indian competitor daring to take on the big boys - Gaana has quickly become one of the most popular music streaming services in India. Unlike Apple Music and Google Play Music, which do not offer any functionality beyond the trial period without paying for a subscription plan, Gaana offers a free mode where you can stream its entire catalogue, albeit with ads.
It also offers users to pay for Gaana + - a premium service through which you can get rid of the ads, stream in 'high definition' and download songs for offline consumption. There are four packages on offer - Rs 99 per month, Rs 297 for 3 months, Rs 549 for 6 months and Rs 999 for 12 months.
It must be noted that the phrase 'high definition' used by Gaana is a misnomer. The highest quality Gaana offers is 320 kbps audio. Don't confuse it with high resolution audio offered by formats such as FLAC and ALAC.
In the long run (with a 1 year plan), Gaana + actually works out to be cheaper than Google Play Music All Access, at an effective 83 rupees per month. The cherry on the cake is that a single Gaana subscription works on upto 5 different devices - making it one of the best deals out there.
Wynk (Airtel Music)
Wynk is a music streaming service offered by Airtel. While the company offers Airtel subscribers Wynk Music at subsidised rates or for free depending on their plan, non Airtel users can also subscribe to Wynk for Rs 99/ month.
The paid subscription gives users unlimited downloads with no Ads along with access to high quality audio streaming.
Saavn
Saavn, known for its extensive regional and Hindi music library is also very popular amongst users. Similar to Gaana, it offers users the ability to listen to songs for free, albeit not in high quality and with ads.
Play Music only comes with a 30 day trial as compared to the mammoth 90 days offered by its primary competitor - Apple Music
Saavn Pro is the company's premium service which removes ads and allows users to listen to songs in high quality (320kbps). Additionally, it offers unlimited song downloads for offline use, original content and Sonos support.
Plans start at Rs 99/month and similar to Gaana, a single subscription can be used on up to 5 Android, iOS or Windows 10 devices.
Jio Music
Like all others, Jio Music offers unlimited downloads, streaming at high quality, playlists and so on. But there is a big catch. Unless and until you have a Jio 4G SIM, you cannot use Jio Music or any of Jio's other applications.
The good part is that if you do have a Jio SIM, Jio Music is free and you don't have to pay to unlock any features.
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