Gaana looking to break-even in next 4-5 years

Music app Gaana expects to achieve break-even in the next 4-5 years with 100 percent year-on-year revenue growth and traction of paid users on its platform. The company is also planning to invest in the non-music genre to increase the engagement time of users on the platform.

The industry will become profitable when 50 percent of Indian people start using streaming apps, and 'paid music' as a model becomes the norm, Gaana CEO Prashan Agarwal told PTI. "Our revenue have been growing 100 percent year-on-year. We expect to reach break-even at this rate in the next 4-5 years," he added.

The Times Internet Group firm expects to double the number of monthly active users on its platform to 200 million in the next two years representing around 50 percent share of the overall market. "In the next 3-4 years, we expect 500-600 million users will start using music app out of which we expect 30 million to start paying for the music. This will take the music streaming segment towards healthy profits. We will maintain our share of over 50 percent in this kind of market as well," Agarwal said.

The company raised USD 115 million last year, which includes USD 100 million from Chinese company Tencent and USD 15 million from Times Internet. Besides music, Gaana is now expanding non-music content to enhance user engagement.

"We are basically focussing on content from motivational speakers, meditation, workouts, comedy, and storytelling. This will enhance the engagement of users on our platform," Agarwal said. Gaana has also partnered with Google Playstore to launch an instant app for listeners who want to experience the app without actually downloading it.

"This feature is targeted towards the next 100 million users coming online. We have registered a 5 percent surge in-app installs per day as more people are realizing the convenience of being able to listen to their favorite songs anytime anywhere even before they download our app," Agarwal said.