Entertainment portal Hungama.com has recently launched a music App on Android, iOS and Blackberry 10 platforms that combines music discovery, similar to the one seen on the popular Aupeo! App, with a loyalty and rewards programme.
Its unique content has catapulted the App to the top of the charts across mobile ecosystems.
Among various other features, the App's 'Mood Discovery' engine allows users to browse through categories of music based on one's mood. There are other ways to discover music too — based on tempo, language, genre and era.
The mood discovery engine on the App seems to have its basic DNA similar to Aupeo! personalised radio App that is quite popular on the Apple's iOS platform. Though the innovation itself is not new, it is surely a first of its kind experience for Indian digital music.
The App also has loyalty and gamification features which allow users to earn points every time a video or music is streamed through it and shared online via 'My Stream' option.
The App claims to have over 20,000 artistes on its independent Artist Radio catalogue and is available both as free-to-download and paid iterations. The free App allows one to listen to music whereas the paid App has additional features, that include the ability to play full-length videos of songs. The free App allows only a limited preview of videos.
Hungama says it has a catalog of over 2 million songs — Bollywood, International, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Tamil, Malayalam and other regional languages. The catalog is a lot stronger when it comes to Hindi film music, but not so when it comes to other languages.
Speaking about the App, Hungama's Chief Operating Officer Siddhartha Roy said the Android App sold music downloads at a never before pricing of Rs.20 for a pack of four. However, the same was not available on iOS because of the closed nature of the ecosystem (iOS allows sale of music only through iTunes).
Which makes it possibly the cheapest digital music download online.
