Fresh from securing $1bn in debt financing, Spotify has officially launched in Indonesia – a country with a population in excess of 250m people.
To put the scale of the market into context, the USA only has 70m more people living within its borders, while Japan, the world’s second biggest recorded music territory, has 127m in total.
To problem for the music business in Indonesia, then, is one of value.
According to the IFPI, Indonesia’s per capita spend on music across the whole of 2014 was just 10 US cents.
With a total annual recorded music market revenue of $26.4m in the year, Indonesia’s huge population couldn’t even help it land in the Top 20 markets for the business.
Yet with 46.5m broadband users and more than 300m activated mobile subscriptions across the country, the potential for a music streaming service to succeed in Indonesia is no fantasy.
“We’re extremely proud to [launch] in Indonesia – completely free to all music fans for life.”
But unlike Spotify, it didn’t bring a permanently free tier into play.
Daniel Ek‘s team in the region are now trying to upsell free users into Spotify Premium for Rp 49,990 per month – the equivalent of US $3.80, or $46 a year.
Other than that, the service is indistinguishable from the Spotify app and web browser that has now racked up 30m subscribers around the world.
“We’re extremely proud to bring the world’s best music service to Indonesia – completely free to all music fans for life,” said Sunita Kaur, Director for Asia at Spotify.
She added: “Spotify takes music discovery and enjoyment to a whole new level. It’s never been easier or more exciting to find the music you love.”
Payments for Spotify Premium in Indonesia will be available via credit card, bank transfers & ATMs, Doku Wallet and at Alfamart, Lawson and Dan+Dan stores nationwide.
It is widely expected that Spotify will use a significant portion of its new $1bn injection (and an estimated $600m it already had in the bank) for aggressive international expansion.
