Following price cuts by domestic music streaming services like JioSaavn and Gaana in India, Apple is offering Apple Music for Rs 99 a month, slashed down from the previous Rs 120 pack rate.

India has emerged as music's "sleeping giant" with the world's second-largest smartphone market with cheapest data rates, hence Apple's decision could be intended to keep pace in the competition especially with the recent Spotify and YouTube Music launches in the country, The Verge reported on Friday.

To compete with the international brands that are expanding footprint in India, the country's local music streaming giants, JioSaavn and Gaana recently dropped their annual fee from Rs 999 and Rs 1,098 (respectively) to Rs 299.

However, both services left the pricing for monthly subscriptions untouched at 99 rupees, which may have helped Apple Music decide the threshold of their price slash to retain its position in India.

To offer a little extra to the users, Amazon Music's subscription is also bundled with Amazon Prime's at Rs 129 a month or Rs 999 a year,

However, with Apple Music's new per month plan, the iPhone-maker has become cheaper than Sptify, that charges Rs 119 for a month's subscription in India.

According to consulting firm Deloitte, online music market in India is expected to surpass $273 million by March 2020.

Disclosure:

RIL, the promoter of Reliance Jio, also controls Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com.