India-based digital streaming platform Hungama will shut down its music streaming service on Tuesday (April 15).
In a notice to users obtained by Music Ally, Hungama Music said the music section of Hungama Digital Media will terminate its service on April 15, noting that “downloaded music and library content will no longer be available.”
Hungama Music’s closure marks the third significant exit from India’s competitive music streaming market in just 15 months following ByteDance’s Resso in January and Wynk Music in August 2024.
Resso’s shutdown was due to “local market conditions,” according to a ByteDance spokesperson last year, while Wynk Music shut down after its parent company, Bharti Airtel, struck a partnership with Apple, effectively rolling the platform’s users into Apple Music.
Only two major domestic DSPs, Gaana and JioSaavn, remain operational in India.
The shutdowns come amid a boom in streaming music consumption in India.
In 2023, India’s on-demand music streams reached 1.037 trillion, making the country the world’s second-biggest annual streaming volume by market, behind the USA (1.454 trillion plays), according to data from Luminate. Separate data from the IFPI showed that India’s recorded music business was worth $319 million in 2022.
Kumar Taurani, a veteran of India’s music business and Chairman and Managing Director of prominent India-based music company Tips Industries, told MBW last year that “India’s streaming market is on the cusp of a digital boom with unprecedented opportunity”.
Hungama Music was founded in 2013. In 2020, the service inked a licensing deal with the Indian Performing Rights Society, the first for an Indian music streaming platform at the time.
In 2023, the platform transitioned to a subscription-only model, abandoning the freemium approach. Notably in 2022, its rival Gaana also dropped its free tier and shifted to a paid subscription-only model.
Hungama Music’s shutdown comes just five months after its parent, Hungama Digital Media, which recently rebranded as Hungama OTT, formed a strategic partnership with Virgin Music Group, Universal Music Group‘s global indie artist and label services division.
The partnership between Virgin Music and Hungama OTT was aimed at boosting international exposure for Indian regional music
While the music streaming component is shutting down, Hungama OTT will continue to offer movies, original web series, audio content, and podcasts. Additionally, Hungama Artist Aloud, the company’s distribution and talent management platform for independent musicians, relaunched recently, suggesting the company may be refocusing from music streaming to music services.
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