Paytm Jumps Into OTT War, Will Produce Exclusive Shows, Series; Spotify, T-Series Deal Covers 160,000 Songs

After targeting your money via Paytm wallet and Payments Bank, Paytm has now set their eyes on your attention.

And what better method can be than content.

Paytm’s OTT War Chest Ready To Fight Netflix, Amazon Prime

Justify it as competition or a tactical move, but this decision to enter the OTT or Over the Top battle in India by Paytm can have long term effects.

As per reports coming in, Paytm has decided to jump into the OTT battle in India, and produce videos, web series, special shows for their own users.

ET reports that hiring has already started, and very soon, Paytm will come out with Netflix and Amazon Prime type shows for their users.

This will trigger a new Content War between Netflix, Paytm, Amazon Prime, Hotstar and other major players.

A highly placed source said, “Paytm has been looking at this space (video service) for some time but it is only now that the plans to set up a team is being formulating,”

Why Is Paytm Targeting Content?

Content is the new Marketing, and Paytm doesn’t want to miss the bus.

As per the source whom we quoted above, Paytm wants more and more attention from the end-user, and exclusive content seems the way.

Right from wallet to shopping to content, Paytm wants to dominate the users’ digital life, and motivate him/her to spend more and more time within their platform.

In other words, Paytm is following the footsteps of Amazon here: Capture the attention of the user, and then encourage them to buy products.

The source said: “The idea is to have multiple services, from wallet to shopping to video to attract more customers and boost engagement.”

As per the report, even Flipkart is now aiming to replicate this model, and produce their own shows and becomes the new OTT.

As per content experts, a normal smartphone user in India opens news app 8 times a day, and 30% of the time is spent on news.

Supporting Paytm’s decision to enter the OTT game, Sameer Nair, chief executive at Birla Group backed Applause Entertainment said, “Especially for companies in telecom and ecommerce sectors, which have a direct connect with their customers, it makes sense to add original content in the offering,”

Spotify And T-Series Deal Is Rock Solid: Covers 160,000 Songs Now

Meanwhile, speaking about OTT battle, US-based online music streaming service Spotify has now more than 160,000 Bollywood songs under their reach.

In the month of November, Spotify and T-Series had announced a major partnership, under which, Spotify will now have access to 160,000 songs whose rights T-Series already have.

Interestingly, Spotify hasn’t yet launched their services in India, but still, more than 4 million of their paid users listen to Bollywood songs, every month. And, more than 30 million Indians are living in countries like US, England, Canada and more, thereby becoming the target audience for Spotify.

Paul Smith, director, Head of International Licensing at Spotify said, “Today’s deal with T-Series significantly strengthens our Indian music catalogue, bringing Bollywood to more than 200 million Spotify users worldwide. Having T-Series on Spotify is hugely significant and shows our commitment towards providing the very best music for our users,”

Indian online music players like Gaana, Jio-Saavn and others must be following this news keenly. Spotify is expected to launch their Indian services in May this year.

We will keep you updated, as more details come in.