Spotify Renews Licensing Deal with Warner Music Group; Finally Brings Missing Titles to India

Spotify, one of the popular music streaming platforms worldwide, launched its services in the Indian market last year. And while the service got off to a good start, it did, however, leave many users disappointed due to the missing titles from popular artists under the WMG (Warner Music Group). However, that seems to have been addressed now. As today, WMG and the Swedish-headquartered music giant have renewed their global licensing partnership, which paves the way for missing titles on its platform in India.

To jog your memory, days before Spotify announced the launch of its service in India, WMG revoked the publishing license for India, which was signed between the two previously. This, as a result, prevented Spotify to bring the titles under WMG to its platform in India. To find a way out, Spotify did try to leverage amendments in the Indian law. However, it could not manage to make the most of it, and as a result, ended up dealing with a lawsuit put forward by the music group.

Although, that finally got resolved earlier this year in January when Spotify settled on the licensing agreement with Warner Chappell (WMG’s publishing division) to end the dispute. But, despite that signing, the library still awaited the missing titles, since the deal was signed with Warner Chappell, a publishing division, which, unlike Warner Music Group, does not cover artists who have recorded songs with any of its record labels.

As of today, the two conglomerates (Spotify and WMG) renewed their global licensing partnership, which means that the platform now finally gets songs from artists like Beyonce, Coldplay, David Bowie, David Guetta, Ed Sheeran, Green Day, Led Zepplin, Linkin Park, Twenty One Pilots, and more, in India. The two giants also released a joint statement, which reads —

“Spotify and Warner Music Group are pleased to announce a renewed global licensing partnership. This expanded deal covers countries where Spotify is available today, as well as additional markets. The two companies look forward to collaborating on impactful global initiatives for Warner artists and songwriters, and working together to grow the music industry over the long term.”

Starting tonight (April 1), missing artists and titles should finally be available on the platform for Indian users. Although it might not be immediate, so you should check back in a few hours.

Spotify is available for free in India, and unlike other markets, it does allow users to pick and play any song on the Free version. Although it does limit the streaming quality and includes ads, which you can get rid of by upgrading to the Premium that costs INR 59 (Students), INR 119 (Individuals), and INR 179 (Family).