Indian streaming service Gaana announced a partnership with The Orchard, a Western media distribution company representing many indie musicians. The deal adds more than 7 million songs by independent artists to Gaana’s catalog for a total library of 10 million tunes. According to Telecompaper, Gaana has 12 million registered users.
It’s a big deal for the service, which was recently in the news as the target of a major hack. Indian listeners have several streaming music platforms (including global player Rdio), and Gaana will need to continue expanding its offerings to compete with those companies. Saavn is another popular service hot on Gaana’s tail; it recently passed 11 million monthly active users and has tie-ups with Warner Music and EMI for Western tunes.