Gaana broadens access as 72-hour releases target subscribers

Gaana is broadening access through all Vivo phones, Samsung smart TVs and Noise Buds R1 while offering subscribers 72-hour early access to selected Universal Music Group releases. The platform reported more than 30 minutes of early listening per Samsung TV listening user and said subscriber plays per user reached their highest level across all streams.

How is Gaana expanding its distribution?

Gaana is expanding distribution through all Vivo phones, Samsung smart TVs and a co-branded Noise hardware bundle. The Vivo arrangement places Gaana on every Vivo phone, creating a device-level route to the app rather than relying solely on users downloading it from an app store. Gaana also presents Vivo users with a Premium offer that includes a 90-day free trial.

The Vivo offer shows a refundable Rs 1 charge and automatic renewal after the trial, with a stated yearly offer price of Rs 599 plus Goods and Services Tax, or GST, compared with Rs 799. This pricing presentation links phone distribution to a paid-plan conversion path, although Gaana does not disclose the number of Vivo users who activate trials or subsequently renew.

Gaana’s device push spans personal phones, television screens and audio hardware, giving the service three distinct access points. The source describes Samsung’s TV product as offering full discovery and player functionality, while the Noise Buds R1 Gaana Edition was made available through both Gaana and Noise websites, backed by in-app promotion and press coverage.

What does Gaana offer on Samsung smart TVs?

Gaana now offers its music service on Samsung smart TVs, with a full discovery and player experience designed for television. The company reported more than 30 minutes of listening per user in the early stage of the launch, which is the only TV-specific usage measure disclosed in the presentation.

The television interface includes navigation for music, podcasts, library and search, alongside a player with lyrics and queue controls. This extends Gaana beyond a phone-centred music experience and puts both music discovery and playback on a larger screen, but the presentation does not disclose the Samsung TV launch date, the number of compatible models or user growth.

The Samsung route differs from the Vivo partnership because it is framed around listening engagement rather than a defined introductory subscription trial. By contrast, the Vivo screens feature Premium access, more than 3 crore songs, ad-free music, library curation and Party Mode as plan benefits, showing that Gaana is using device partners in different ways across screen categories.

How is Gaana improving music engagement?

Gaana says it achieved its highest-ever subscriber plays per user across all streams through upgrades to its algorithm-driven auto queue. The queue is designed to match tracks with a listener’s mood, tempo and musical character, shifting the product emphasis from individual song selection to a continuing personalised listening sequence.

The upgraded controls allow users to filter the queue by mood, activity and genre, and to refresh recommendations with one tap. The displayed categories include Party, Focus, Workout and Sleep, giving listeners ways to alter recommendations without searching song by song. Gaana does not provide the absolute plays-per-user figure or a comparison period for the “highest-ever” claim.

This engagement work operates alongside the Samsung TV launch, where early users logged more than 30 minutes per listening user. The two initiatives address separate parts of usage: the auto queue aims to sustain listening through recommendations, while TV access creates another place to use the discovery and player experience.

What subscriber-only music does Gaana provide?

Gaana gives subscribers 72-hour early access to selected releases from Universal Music Group, or UMG. The programme launched with singles from Badshah and Harrdy Sandhu, making timing of access, rather than only ad-free playback or catalogue access, a specific stated reason to subscribe.

The “Hear It First” initiative is targeted at subscribers and promotes a three-day early-access window for selected tracks. Gaana characterises the feature as an exclusive subscription reason, but the presentation does not identify how many UMG tracks are covered, how often releases will be offered or whether the arrangement has a specified duration.

The early-access feature sits with other stated Premium benefits, including more than 3 crore songs, ad-free music, library curation and Party Mode. Unlike the 90-day Vivo trial and 1-year Gaana Plus inclusion with Noise Buds R1, the 72-hour release window is a content-led mechanism intended to differentiate the subscriber experience.

How is Gaana using artists and social campaigns?

Gaana is using artist-led content, celebrity collaborations and festival campaigns to broaden awareness and engagement. Its Gaana DISCVR intellectual property, or IP, which spotlights emerging artists, recorded more than 10 lakh views and reach above 4.38 lakh, while Gaana Off The Record is positioned as an artist-storytelling format for Instagram and YouTube.

The company also listed Gaana Unplugged sessions featuring Sachet-Parampara, Vipin Aneja, Avdhoot Gupte and Garvit-Priyansh. Its disclosed celebrity and entertainment collaborations include Sonu Nigam, Tanishk Bagchi, Himesh Reshammiya, Adnan Sami, YRF, T-Series, Alpha, Dhamal 4, Awarapan 2 and the Mirzapur cast, although no audience or revenue figure is attached to those individual efforts.

A Ganesh Chaturthi “Complete the Mantra” contest, conducted with Times Music Spiritual, produced 276 new follows. Gaana said 63% of viewers were non-followers, indicating that the campaign reached beyond its existing social community; it describes the format as a template for festival-led subscription campaigns rather than reporting subscription conversions.

Conclusion

Gaana’s disclosed strategy combines distribution, product engagement and subscription incentives. Pre-installation on all Vivo phones, a Samsung TV experience with more than 30 minutes of early listening per user, and a Noise bundle carrying 1 year of Gaana Plus widen its access points, while personalised queues and 72-hour UMG release windows seek to make recurring use and paid access more distinctive.

What to watch next is whether the 90-day Vivo trial converts into renewals at Rs 599 plus GST, and whether the 72-hour subscriber window extends beyond the initial Badshah and Harrdy Sandhu releases. The presentation also identifies festival-led campaigns as a subscription template after 276 new follows, but leaves conversion, subscriber totals and partner-specific user growth unresolved.