This past week, music fans in India were greeted with some big news! As announced by Reliance Industries and Saavn, they have signed a merger deal between Jio Music and Saavn which would enable them to create an integrated media platform. With Jio Music currently valued at around $670 million, the latest deal has taken the market value of their combined platform beyond $1 billion.
Primarily, the integrated business will be developed into a media platform of the future with global reach, cross-border original content, an independent artist marketplace, consolidated data and one of the largest mobile advertising mediums. Moreover, Reliance will also invest up to Rupee equivalent of US $100 million, out of which Rupee equivalent of US $20 million will be invested upfront, for growth and expansion of the platform into one of the largest streaming services in the world.
With the platform also looking to build on Saavn’s award-winning Original Programming, Artist Originals (AO), Akash Ambani, Director, Reliance Jio, spoke about the latest transaction:
“The investment and combination of our music assets with Saavn underlines our commitment to further boost the digital ecosystem and provide unlimited digital entertainment services to consumers over a strong uninterrupted network. We are delighted to announce this partnership with Saavn, and believe that their highly experienced management team will be instrumental in expanding Jio-Saavn to an extensive user base, thereby strengthening our leadership position in the Indian streaming market.”
Rishi Malhotra, Co-Founder and CEO at Saavn, said:
“Nearly 10 years ago, we had a vision to build a connected music platform, dedicated to South Asian culture across the globe. Vin, Param and I always envisioned the company for the long term with intense focus on products, data, and ground-breaking original content. Our alignment with Reliance enables us to create one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most capable media platforms in the world.”
Furthermore, Paramdeep Singh, Co-Founder and Executive Vice Chairman at Saavn, added:
“Saavn has been at the forefront of the digital music revolution in India. Our partnership with Reliance reinforces our commitment to the growth of our label partners, the independent artist ecosystem, and the overall music industry globally.”
With multiple international and local players including the likes of Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music, Google Play Music, Gaana amongst others who are looking to make the most of India’s young demographic, it will be interesting to see how Jio Music and Saavn’s merger deal plays out in the near future.
Make sure to watch this space for more.
H/T: Saavn