Spotify is coming to India and Russia this year as it prepares to go public

Spotify is finally expanding to India, Russia and some African countries, the firm’s CEO confirmed.

In an investor day presentation, CEO Daniel Ek said: “We are working on launching in some of the biggest markets in the world, including India, Russia, and Africa which has a very rich musical culture.”

Spotify reportedly was to launch in Russia in 2015 but reconsidered its decision. This is the first confirmation that it plans to go down that route earlier.

In India, Spotify will compete with the popular Gaana and Saavn music apps, which offer music tailored to Indian tastes at very prices in line with local budgets.

It’s not clear which African counties Spotify will be launching in as the firm fell prey to “Africa is a country” syndrome. The app would be competing with services like Spinlet, Vuga, iRoking, and Tigo in the region, so it’ll be interesting at the very least.

Spotify still plans to go public this April, with its IPO on the 3rd, and its stock ticker SPOT.

Spotify is now the premier Windows 10 streaming app with the demise of Microsoft’s Groove Music service months ago, the app itself remains as an excellent local music player. Now sporting a new touch-friendly interface, Microsoft has hardwired Spotify into Cortana and now prompts users to make use of the musical app when playing music via the voice interface.

With this news, more Windows 10 users can now hope to eventually gain access to Spotify’s music integration services in the future.

Via Neowin.