Airtel shutting down Wynk Music; will offer Apple Music at discounted rates

Indian telecom giant Airtel is shutting down its music streaming app, Wynk Music, a decade after its launch.

According to a PTI report, the company will close the app in the next couple of months and will absorb all the employees into the Airtel ecosystem.

"We can confirm that we will sunset Wynk Music and all Wynk music employees will be absorbed within the Airtel ecosystem," the company's spokesperson said.

Airtel's partnership with Apple

The development comes shortly after the Jio rival partnered with iPhone maker Apple to provide exclusive offers for Apple TV+ and Apple Music to its customers in India.

The partnership will allow Airtel Xstream customers to access content from Apple TV+ with premium Airtel WiFi and Postpaid plans.

Additionally, users who are subscribed to Airtel's music streaming service, Wynk Premium, will gain access to exclusive offers on Apple Music. These offers will be available exclusively to Airtel customers in India later this year, the company said in a release.

"We are thrilled that Airtel customers in India will soon be able to enjoy all of the incredible content on Apple TV+ and Apple Music," said Oliver Schusser, Apple’ vice president of Apple Music, Apple TV+, Sports, and Beats.

"With our ever growing catalog of world-class films, television shows and music to choose from we know there will be something for everyone," Schusser added.

Wynk Music's market presence

The Wynk Music app, which was launched by Airtel in September 2014, allows users to download music for offline listening, set caller tunes, listen to podcasts, and stream music in multiple regional languages.

The app currently has an estimated subscriber count of over 100 million.

According to reports, Wynk Music contributes around Rs 300 crore in an annual revenue for the parent company.

In August 2022, Wynk Music introduced Wynk Studio, a music distribution ecosystem for independent artists based in India and overseas.

The studio enabled artists to launch their music and will also partner them in monetizing their music on a host of platforms and will be a part of Airtel’s digital products portfolio which includes Wynk, Airtel Xstream, Airtel Ads, Airtel IQ among others.