Gaana is dropping its free tier and moving to a paid subscription-only model

India-based music streaming company Gaana is dropping its free tier and moving to a paid subscription-only model.

According to Reuters, the move comes after the Spotify rival failed to raise new investment or attract a buyer.

Reuters reports that it has seen an email sent by Gaana to ‘music partners’ stating that a potential acquisition deal had “fallen through”.While, the other party wasn’t named in the email, citing sources, Reuters reports that the acquisition talks were with India-based telecommunications firm Bharti Airtel.

Airtel was reported last month to be in ‘serious talks’ to buy Gaana. Airtel and Gaana had reportedly been negotating a potential deal for several weeks, according to reports published in July.

According to Reuters‘ report, Sachin Kamble, Gaana’s Head of Content and Partnerships, announced the service’s move to a paid subscription focus in the email, noting further that Gaana had failed to “bring in fresh investments”.

Said Kamble in the email:  “Now we are at (a) crossroads – wind down/find a way to continue … we have decided to give this another try. Hence, we have closed streaming for free users today and (are) moving to paid only model”.

The email continued: “We will need your support on this, else we will have to shut down completely.”

Gaana CEO Sandeep Lodha told Reuters over text message that “We are not shutting down”.

Gaana — majority-owned by Times Internet – raised 2.49 billion rupees from Chinese tech and media giant Tencent Holdings last year by issuing convertible shares.That deal valued Gaana at around $570 million to $580 million at the time, according to Entrackr.

Citing one of its sources, Reuters said that Gaana also struggled to raise money from investors, including Tencent.