# Audio streaming bets on bundles to fix low paying base 2026-08-27T03:53:54+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India's music-streaming market is turning to telecom, banking and e-commerce bundles to convert its large free user base into paying subscribers. A report by EY and the Indian Music Industry says such tie-ups can lift the sector's average revenue per user, currently at about Re 1 per day, and drive growth. India had 14 million paid music subscriptions as of December 2025, a fraction of the 200 million-plus paid video-streaming subscriptions. Spotify and JioSaavn say bundles help cut customer acquisition costs and scale trials, but they warn that converting trial users into long-term paying listeners depends on whether the experience feels worth paying for. Industry experts point out that audio platforms face a structural disadvantage versus video services. Video services own most of their content, while audio platforms pay per-stream royalties, making it harder to profit from bundles unless music-licensing economics are reworked. The report recommends India move bundling from a short-term promotion to a structured acquisition-to-retention funnel. ## Indian Opinion Analysis India's paid music subscriber base of 14 million remains tiny next to its 200 million-plus paid video users, a gap that reflects the structural differences between the two markets. Video platforms own their content libraries, so every new subscriber directly improves margins. Audio platforms pay per-stream royalties to multiple rights holders, meaning a subscriber surge without lower licensing costs can erode profit. The EY-IMI report was prepared for the Indian Music Industry, the trade body representing record labels, and its recommendations naturally favour models that could raise per-stream payouts. The real test is whether labels will rework licensing terms to enable the very bundles the report champions, or whether they hold out for higher per-user minimum guarantees. The outcome directly affects how quickly services such as Spotify and JioSaavn can convert India's 300 million-odd free listeners into paying users. ## Coverage - livemint.com Leads with the EY-IMI bundling report as a positive growth narrative, then balances it with industry quotes on licensing hurdles and free-music mindset This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: EY, Indian Music Industry, JioSaavn, Spotify Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/audio-streaming-bets-on-bundles-to-fix-low-paying-base/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/audio-streaming-bets-on-bundles-to-fix-low-paying-base/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/