Xiaomi pulls MI Music from Indian App Store as Government Scrutiny Intensifies

Beijing (China), 04/08/23: Xiaomi’s music streaming service, Mi Music, is not available in India’s Play Store. Xiaomi has secretly withdrawn its music player and streaming software as regulatory pressure mounts. This is the latest in a long line of business closures in the country.

Xiaomi launched its Mi Music and Mi Video online streaming services in India in May of 2018. The Mi Music service was powered by Hungama, one of India’s largest multimedia streaming services.

The website offered over 10 million free songs in 13 different languages. The Play Store app description read, “Get unlimited access to millions of music, curated playlists, and content from your favorite artists. This is the music app for you to listen to online and offline music.”

Since last year, the company has reportedly terminated a number of service offers in India. Xiaomi shut down its financial services operation in the country, which includes the Mi Credit loan app, in October of last year. At the same time, the company discontinued its global cloud backup service. The phone manufacturer also cancelled Zilli, a short-form video app, earlier this year.

In addition, the Indian government banned a number of Chinese apps in 2020, including TikTok, Shein, and UC Browser, as well as Xiaomi’s browser, video call, and community app. The government took this action, alleging a threat to national security as the rationale. The government directed the suspension of more apps in February 2022 that were Chinese or had a Chinese connection.

Xiaomi has faced challenges in India as a result of a government crackdown on tax evasion issues and the departure of an executive.

Manu Kumar Jain, a veteran top executive who oversaw Xiaomi’s operations in India from the beginning, left the company last year. Earlier this year, the company laid off workers in order to streamline its operations and cut costs.