Smartphone maker Micromax has invested an undisclosed amount in the music streaming service Gaana, reports the Times of India. With this investment, the Gaana will be made available on all Micromax smartphones. The financial details of the deal were undisclosed. The partnership will also provide Micromax users will free trials of Gaana+ service, which allows unlimited downloads and an ad-free subscription. Post the trial period, users can choose to pay for Gaana+ or use the free version of the app. Given that Gaana claims to have over 10 million songs, we feel this isn’t such a bad deal for Micromax users. However, we hope Micromax refrains from providing it as a system app, making it notoriously hard to uninstall for users that don’t want it. With this investment, Micromax is push towards setting up a services business, in a bid to explore alternate revenue streams. The company first announced its plans of foraying into the services business in September last year. It was apparently looking to tap into areas like education, health and security, through partnerships. However, Micromax CEO Vineet Taneja had said at the time that no developments in this regard were likely to materialize over the next 2-3 quarters. Investment spree: Subsequently in February this year, Micromax invested in a local analytics company for a ‘significant minority stake’, starting its transformation into a services company. At the time, the company said that it would invest in more startups, and would provide between $0.5 million and $20 million to…
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