YouTube Music in India: Comparison of price, features with Apple Music, Spotify, JioSaavn, and others

YouTube has launched its YouTube Music app in India along with YouTube Premium service. The YouTube Music app is the latest music streaming app to enter the Indian market. Just last month, Swedish music-streaming service Spotify entered the market, and claims to have already got one million users in India within a week of the launch.

The Indian music streaming market looks like a crowded space now. There’s Apple Music, Google Play Music, Amazon Music along with India-based players like JioSaavn, Gaana, all of which are competing for a share of the online music streaming pie. Here’s a quick comparison of all the key music streaming services in India, their prices and main features.

YouTube Music at Rs 99 per month 

YouTube Music is the latest one to enter the market and it has a monthly cost of Rs 99 per month for Premium service. The basic app is free for users, though if you want the ad free version, you can go for a premium. Users will get three months free access to YouTube Music Premium as part of the launch offer.

There’s also YouTube Premium, which costs Rs 129 per month and might be better for many users since it gives membership to YouTube Music Premium, and more importantly it ensures ad-free experience with background play and offline downloads for videos on YouTube.

Google has also said that subscribers of Google Play Music will get YouTube Music Premium membership as part of their subscription each month for free. With YouTube Music app, you can get access to live video performances, listen to music, create your own playlists. There’s also a smart search feature for those who cannot remember the name of the song.

Read more: YouTube Premium, YouTube Music in India: Details in price, playlists and everything else 

YouTube Music will also let users search by lyrics, even if they are wrong. Paid members will be able to automatically downloads up to 100 songs their mobile device. YouTube Music is available on Android, iOS and on the web at music.youtube.com

Spotify Music at Rs 119 per month  

Spotify is the world’s most popular music-streaming service and while the basic version is free (includes ads), users can go for Spotify Premium at Rs 119 per month. The app is available on Google Play Store and iOS.

Spotify users can listen to music for free. The company is offering a 30-day free trial for those who sign-up for the Premium account. With a premium account, users can also listen to music offline and save songs on the device as well.

Read more: Spotify India launch: Subscription starts Rs 13 per day, but you can listen for free too 

The highlight of Spotify is its curated playlists, which rely on the artists you select as favourites when setting up the account. Spotify is also offering different price packs for its Premium service, starting at Rs 13 per day to Rs 1189 per year for those who prefer more flexible options.

The problem for Spotify right now is that music from Warner Brothers is not available in India due to copyright issues, so the library might not be as large compared to other countries.

Apple Music at Rs 120 per month

Apple Music is available on iOS and Android. The monthly cost of Apple Music Rs 120, though you get one month free when you sign up for the service. Apple Music’s family plan costs Rs 190 per month and six users can access the same account if on the Family plan.

Read more: As Apple Music starts composing its India song, it bets big on independent musicians, indie bands 

Apple Music supports downloads as well, along with options to create playlists as well. Apple Music also includes Radio service from the company, which has some popular shows like Carpool Karoke, etc.  Apple Music’s student plan costs Rs 60 per month, which is half of the regular subscription. Apple Music claims to have around 50 million songs.

Amazon Prime Music at Rs 999 per year

Amazon Prime Music is also available in India. The advantage here is that if you pay for Amazon Prime, which is Rs 999 per year, you also get unlimited access to Prime Video and Prime Music, which is a good value for money deal.

Amazon Prime Music is available on the web, on iOS and Android as a separate app. The service offers an ad-free experience for Prime Music listeners. Alexa users can also listen to music from Amazon’s service.  Amazon Music has plenty of regional music options to offer from languages across India.

Google Play Music at Rs 99 per month 

Google Play Music is also present in India and cost Rs 99 per month just like YouTube Music. However, the service does not offer free access though, and you have to subscribe. Google Play Music has one month free and after that, it is a paid service. The service offers access to millions of song, videos, and has radio stations as well.

Gaana at Rs 99 per month

Gaana claims to have over 30 million songs and the service is free for non-ad free version. Gaana plus though starts at Rs 99 per month, and goes up to Rs 499 for the entire year, though this is a discounted price. Gaana is available on desktop, on iOS and Android apps as well.

Gaana Plus lets users go with unlimited downloads, stream music content in High Definition all for an ad-free experience. Gaana also offers radio, and lets users choose their language preference for music when setting up the account.

JioSaavn at Rs 99 per month

JioSaavn is one of India’s most popular music services, and comes with free access, though this includes ads. JioSaavn claims to have 45 million songs in total. The service also has podcasts as well. The service is available on desktop, Android and iOS. There’s also some exclusive original music on JioSaavn as well.

Read more: Saavn rebranded to JioSaavn on Android and iOS, offers 90-day free Saavn Pro access 

The JioSaavn Pro account costs Rs 99 per month, though you get 90 days free. Users can download music on the Pro account and listen to music ad-free.