Ahead of launch, Google Home speakers get Gaana, Saavn integration
Days before their launch, Google has apparently added support for Gaana and Saavn, the two popular music streaming services, on its Home series speakers. A Reddit user has posted screenshots of Saavn and Gaana working with his Google Home smart speakers. Debuting into the smart home device market in India, Google will introduce its Home speakers on April 10. Here's more.
While Google Home speakers are yet to be launched in India, this user has posted a screenshot showing Saavn and Gaana already working on his speakers. In addition to Google Play Music, his speakers also show Saavn and Gaana as the default music options. This implies Saavn and Gaana users will be able to link their accounts with Google Home speakers for streaming music.
Google's integration with Saavn and Gaana makes sense as these two music streaming services are popular in India; Google can therefore attract their users to buy its Home speakers. Globally, Saavn has over 22 million users while Gaana reportedly had 50 million monthly active users in November last year. Notably, both the services offer paid and free music streaming options.
Reliance Jio has recently invested $104 million into Saavn and as per the agreement, Saavn and JioMusic will soon merge to form a new music streaming service. So, in the long run, Google would get access to this new service as well.
Interestingly, Google Home smart speakers would face competition from Amazon's Echo. Launched last year in India, Amazon's Echo speakers offer Saavn music service along with other services such as online food delivery via Zomato, Amazon shopping, booking cabs via Ola and Uber, among other options. One can only wait to see if Google goes the Amazon way or has some other plans.
