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Mumbai, where Hungama, now preparing to shut down its music streaming service, is headquartered. Photo Credit: Hardik Joshi
So long, Hungama Music: The Indian streaming service is reportedly set to cease operating this coming Tuesday, April 15th.
Music Ally identified the quick-approaching shutdown today, pointing to an official update that the Mumbai-headquartered company provided to users.
“Starting 15th April, 2025, the Music Section will bid goodbye as we make way for exciting new experiences!” the update reads, proceeding to confirm the continued availability of movies and more on the overarching Hungama OTT app.
Meanwhile, Hungama Music looks to have deleted both its X and Instagram accounts. And higher-ups didn’t appear to have put out a formal statement at the time of this writing.
But as noted by the mentioned outlet, Hungama had just pivoted to a subscription-only model in 2023. ByteDance’s Resso also dropped its free tier during 2023 – and proceeded to shut down in India the following year, when Airtel’s Wynk Music called it quits as well.
In other words, when it comes to straight volume, the music-streaming competition is in some ways thinning out in India, where Gaana was comparatively early to put ad-supported listening in the rearview.
Furthermore, after extending its “Mini” plan’s length from one day to one week in India last year, Spotify did away with the shorter-term subscription option in all markets this month. Now, India-based subscribers must spring for Individual at ₹119 (currently $1.38) per month, Duo (₹149/$1.73), or Family (₹179/$2.08).
Of course, the developments raise several pressing questions. Chief among them: Exactly how long will it be before subscription adoption becomes the norm in India?
At least according to one in-depth 2024 report, lessened streaming competition or not, it’ll take years for services’ paid-listening prioritization to translate into material results.
Per the 2024 analysis, streaming platforms’ listener base actually shrunk in India last year, when the nation’s total on-demand subscribers finished at approximately 11 million. By 2027, the subscribership figure will roughly double, and total industry revenue will crack ₹78 billion (currently $906 million), the EY report estimated.
“We believe that for the subscription model to achieve its potential in India,” the document elaborated, “platforms will need to work towards making prices more attractive and comparable with other competing products, embrace extensive bundling and provide exclusive content around artists to engage with their fan base.”
