The product adoption lifecycle for music streaming services in India

Music is a phase where we all like to go into. Music has also been the perfect partner in boosting up in our good and bad times. It has given us the way of moving forward and has become a vital role in all circumstances .

Its been seen that Indian users spend more time on listening music compared to the rest users across the globe.

Various music streaming services available in the market in India are -

Market share

Gaana (30.1% approx.) -

Gaana is an Indian company and achieving over 150 million+ monthly active users and going ahead with market leadership. It was founded in 2010. It has over 45 million+ MP3 songs. It has different plans for its users like no ads pack at Rs 10 per month for ad free content, Gaana plus mini pack at Rs 10 per month, Combo packs with other subscriptions associated with Times Prime at Rs 999 per month , Gaana plus at Rs 99 per month for the download, offline listen option, ad free experience and HD music quality listening.

( Source : Hindi Songs,Tamil Indian Gana,Bhajan MP3 Music App — Apps on Google Play , Gaana: Overview | LinkedIn and Times Internet is growing despite influx of US tech firms in India | TechCrunch )

JioSaavn (24.1% approx) -

It was founded in 2007 as Saavn, the company has 50 million+ music tracks .. Saavn merged with JioMusic in 2018. JioSaavn has different services like -basic is free with advertisements and other features, like JioSaavn Pro at Rs 33 per month for high streaming quality, ad free, exclusive content are offered , JioSaavn Plus Jiotunes at Rs 25 per month, JioSaavn Plus Ad free at Rs 25 per month. JioSaavn Podcasts has emerged as a better platform for independent creators and has 100 million+ users .

( Source :JioSaavn — Wikipedia , JioSaavn: About | LinkedIn and JioSaavn App. on Play Store )

Wynk Music (15.1% approx.) -

Wynk is a start-up within the telecom company, Airtel. It was founded in 2014. Wynk is a digital platform for various content across variety of music. The product is customised as per the preferences of the users. A user can download the content, listen to HD quality of the content and many more options. It has over 75 million app installs. Comes with the pack subscription with Airtel postpaid and can be purchased individually as well.

( Source — Wynk Limited: About | LinkedIn )

Spotify (15.1% approx.) -

Its services were launched in 2019 in India. Its user interface is greatly built with resourceful options. Podcast is also available. There are millions of tracks and episodes on Spotify. It has added many millions monthly active users recently, benefiting from faster growth in India. It has options like-Spotify free , Premium family at Rs 199 per per month, Mini Rs 7 per day, Premium Individual at Rs 129 per day and many more .

(Source: Spotify App. on Play Store )

Youtube Music (10.1% approx.) -

Youtube was launched in India in 2019. It has more than 40 million+ songs . In this we can find many great options like recommended music, trending songs, live performances and many more. The library contains the favorite songs of the user. Option for Youtube Music Premium is available at Rs 99/month.

( Source : Youtube Music App. on Play Store)

Others (6.5% approx.) -

Other Music streaming services are part under this category and contributes around 6.5% of the total share of the market. Under this either the user gets the pack/combo services or paid service of the music streaming .

The products as per the product adoption lifecycle -

1. ) Pack Service - Some services from the companies comes under this category- Like Wynk music with Airtel premium account and Amazon Music with Amazon Prime.
2. ) Paid Service - Services from the companies are given to the users with some subscription amount per month or year. Under this category, the brand loyal customers marks the maximum percentage of the total users . Example -Apple Music, Spotify
3. ) Free with Ad Service - Services are given to users along with advertisements in between the playlist. Example- Spotify

The Product Adoption Curve -

The location of music streaming services in India on product adoption curve-

If we talk about the present time, the music streaming services in India will place somewhere between early adopters and early majority categories on production adoption curve. Because as we know that the mobile subscribers are increasing in India and many new digital platforms are emerging for the users in this sectors.

Profiles of Product Adopters -

1. ) Innovators (2.5 % ) - This includes all risk takers, who wants to adopt the new technology or the new product and looking for first user access. In the music streaming services in India would be the music enthusiast like some musicians or students, bloggers who wants the ad free, top of category music subscription with all the available features like HD song quality, download option, offline play, etc . Example -users using the paid subscriptions of Apps like Spotify, Apple Music.
2. ) Early Adopters (13.5 %) - This also includes a huge portion of the lot, who wants the first access of the product. Under this, the product is now gaining its name and many users wants its access . The example will be same as of innovators in this.
3. ) Early Majority (34% ) - This includes the users who will buy the service after getting information regarding the service from innovators and early adopters . For example in the case of music streaming services, a user will first research about a service and later will decide to go for it or not.
4. ) Late Majority (34 %) - This includes the users who will adopt a product/service once the majority of users have used, like innovators, early adopters and early majority. Example in the case of a music streaming service, the user will check the functions of the app, the number of people using it and the name it gained in the market.
5. ) Laggards (16%) - This includes the users who are last in the category of product adoption cycle, to accept any new product/service . They generally are old in age and are deal seekers of the new product/service. They look into the matter before buying any service which is new. For example the old age group users, who prefer to buy as per their actual need for a product/service.

Factors and challenges that affected the rate of music streaming service adoption are as follows -

1. ) Some users does not want to pay for subscription, they prefer basic with ad option, there is comparatively minimal need for major part of users for music streaming service. But, with time it will change.
2. ) Price offered by the companies is also a factor with major part of users- prices should be kept while taking
3. ) If we talk about demo or trial option for a service for a lesser time, that can also be a reason for the challenges that affect the rate of music streaming service adoption. Example- some times a user needs more time than a usual free trials time period .
4. ) Difficulty in user interface of the music streaming app.
5. ) Laggards category of users, where they only buy a product if there is the actual need for that.

Growth hacks used to gain the adopters are as follows -

1. ) In case of pack or bundle subscription in music streaming services, companies like Amazon Prime subscription gives the service for Amazon music along with it. In case of Airtel postpaid plan, Airtel gives the service for Wynk music along with it. Such combo increases the demand for a new product/service and customer prefers to buy the combo to get more service along with the product purchased as its a win-win situation for both the company owners and the customers.
2. ) Many companies have regional songs collection because of that the growth of many users from metro, tier 2 and 3 cities have also increased.
3. ) Free trial period gives the user the idea about the product/service because of that many users have opted for the paid subscriptions.
4. Options of the preloaded playlist like for a particular singer, actor, movie or as per user’s mood. This made the easy access for the users .

Summary -

The market trend for the usage of the apps in the music streaming service is increasing. As many new users are joining the digital eco system. The shift of the user’s usage has changed to the digital platforms if compared to TV or radio. The wide range of the song collections brings the storm of collection for a user. We will be able to see many more digital platforms related to the music streaming services in future .

Note -

This is an educational assignment, as mentioned in the question.