Reliance Jio To Partner With Saavn

Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Ltd. on Friday announced an integration with the leading music app, Saavn for its digital music service, JioMusic. This partnership was made in an attempt to increase Reliance’s global music platform.

Once this collaboration goes through, the combined valuation of will stand at over $ 1 billion, with JioMusic’s implied valuation standing at $ 670 million. In order to get this deal written in stone, Reliance Industries will have to make an individual investment of $ 100 million.

Out of the $ 100 million, a rupee equivalent of $ 20 million will be invested upfront. With this investment, Reliance plans on fostering the growth and expansion of the platform into one of the largest streaming services in the world. This move comes at a crucial point when audiophilles are warming up to a palette of streaming options in the country including Gaana.com, Wynk, Saavn, Apple Music, Google Play and now even Amazon Prime Music.

Since 2015, the number of music streamers in India have more than tripled and according to the current numbers, the valuation stands at $ 87.6 million. With higher smartphone penetration and faster internet triggered by Reliance Jio itself, the online audience is only expected to grow further. Reliance is also planning on acquiring a partial stake from existing shareholders worth $ 104 million of Saavn.

The shareholders include Tiger Global Management, Liberty Media and Bertelsmann. The company will continue to operate the over the top media platform available on all the app stores. By combining entities, Reliance plans on increasing the original content, developing a media platform of global reach and creating an original marketplace. Further, it also aims at becoming one of the largest digital marketing platforms.

“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,” said Singh, executive vice chairman of Saavn. The deal is expected to conclude as soon as the details get finalised.