Vi—which was created from the merger of the telecom companies Vodafone India and the Aditya Birla Group conglomerate’s Idea Cellular—has entered into a partnership with Spotify. Through the tie-up, Vi subscribers with either an individual or family plan who have not previously used Spotify, will get three months’ complimentary access to the DSP’s Premium Standard tier.
They can activate the plan—which comes with the benefits of ad-free listening with full control over what plays next; the ability to download tracks to listen to offline, and higher sound quality (up to 320 kbps)—through the Vi app. At the end of the three-month complimentary period, Vi subscribers can extend their Spotify plan by using the ‘Add to Bill’ facility, at its market rate of Rs139 (approx. $.145) per month.
The deal with Vi marks “our first-of-its-kind telco partnership in India”, says Amarjit Batra, the managing director of Spotify India. In December 2021, Vi had entered into a similar collaboration with local audio-streaming service Hungama Music, which shut down in April 2025.
When it ceased operations in August 2024, Indian telecom Airtel migrated the premium users of its Wynk Music service to Apple Music. Such deals give the audio-OTT platforms access to the vast customer bases of India’s telecom operators.
As per data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, at the end of May 2026, those of Airtel and Vi stood at 376m and 129m respectively. With 530m subscribers, the market leader remains Jio, which runs JioSaavn.
