Gaana
Gaana's Android app
DeveloperTimes Internet
Launch dateApril 2010; 13 years ago (2010-04)
Platform(s)
MembersIncrease 150 million[1]
Pricing modelPremium version: ₹99 (US$1.20) per month (within India) and not available outside India.
AvailabilityWorldwide
Websitegaana.com

Gaana is India's largest subscription-based commercial music streaming service with over 200 million monthly users. It was launched in April 2010 by Times Internet and provides both Indian and international music content. The entire Indian music catalog was available to users worldwide however recently the music library is restricted based on geolocation of subscribers. Post this the music catalog is severely limited for subscribers outside India. Gaana features music from 21 Indian languages including the major languages such as Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Urdu, Odia, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Maithili, Malayalam and other Indian regional languages.[2]

Gaana[3] allows users to make their playlists public so that they can be seen by other users.[4] They can view and favorite playlists. Its mobile app was launched to support almost all popular operating systems like Android, iOS and Windows.[5] Gaana is priced at ₹99 (US$1.20) per month (within India) and not available outside India. Gaana became a subscription-only service after failing to secure fresh funds or find a buyer.[6] And it does not provide customers with free streaming from Friday 9 September 2022.[7] Premium version offers Ad-free music, HD quality music streaming and allow users to download songs to play offline.

History

The domain name, Gaana.com, was first registered on 21 June 2005 and was launched in April 2010.

Gaana.com formed a partnership in February 2013 with South Indian Music Companies Association to acquire rights to music from 79 different labels. Consequently, Gaana.com had access to more than 45+ million songs. Gaana generates an annual revenue of US$5 million for Times Internet.

Micromax bought a stake in Gaana.com in October 2015.[8] In February 2018, Tencent also backed the company with an investment of $115 million.[9]

In May 2015, Gaana launched gaming innovation in their music streaming app.[10] The music app has also introduced voice assistant feature.[11]

On 8 July 2020, Gaana debuts a short video platform called HotShots[12] after the Government of India banned Bytedance-owned TikTok. In 2022, Bharti Airtel initiated acquisition talks with Times Internet for Gaana.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Gaana claims 100 million MAUs, launches video and artists focused products". entrackr.com. 24 April 2019.
  2. ^ www.ETBrandEquity.com. "Prashan Agarwal joins Gaana.com as chief operating officer - ET BrandEquity". ETBrandEquity.com. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Music apps PC download music apps for Windows". Gadgetssai. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Gaana.com records 1.4 million unique visitors in launch month". The Economic Times. 10 August 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Gaana on song, new initiative 'Originals' clocks 20 mn streaming in five weeks". The Economic Times. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Fighting to Survive, Tencent-Backed Music App Gaana Turns to Subscriptions".
  7. ^ Kalra, Aditya; Vengattil, Munsif (9 September 2022). "EXCLUSIVE Fighting to survive, Tencent-backed Indian music app Gaana turns to subscriptions". Reuters.
  8. ^ "Micromax buys stake in Gaana, to integrate app with its smartphones". The Indian Express. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Tencent leads in Gaana's $115 million funding round". The Economic Times. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Gaana launches gaming innovation in music streaming app". The Economic Times. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Music app Gaana introduces voice assistant feature - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  12. ^ "Gaana debuts a short video platform HotShots". The Economic Times. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  13. ^ Gurbaxani, Amit (2 August 2022). "Airtel In Serious Talks to Acquire Indian Streamer Gaana". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2022.

External links

The Times Group
Free and subscription music streaming services
Categories