Amazon.com Inc is preparing to launch a standalone music streaming subscription service, placing it squarely in competition with rival offerings from Apple Inc and Spotify, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The service will be offered at $9.99 per month, in line with major rivals, and it will offer a competitive catalog of songs, the sources said. Amazon (AMZN.O) is finalizing licenses with labels for the service, which likely will be launched in late summer or early fall, the sources said.
Amazon, which offers a free streaming music service with a limited catalog to subscribers of its Prime shipping and video service, did not respond to a request for comment about the new, full-fledged music plan.
Although it will be a late entrant to the crowded streaming space, Amazon believes a comprehensive music service is important to its bid to be a one-stop shop for content and goods, the sources said.
The new music offering also is intended to increase the appeal of the Amazon Echo, its home speaker, which searches the Internet and orders products from the retailer with voice commands.
“A music service will further increase the daily interactions between Amazon and its customer base,” said former music executive Jay Samit when told about the company's plan.
The new Amazon effort will compete directly with Apple Music and Spotify, which boast more than 30 million songs. Apple launched its service last year in one of the highest profile signs that listeners wanted subscription services, rather than paying for individual songs or albums.
Weren't people saying that Spotify was unsustainable and wasn't making a profit? If this is true, maybe competition will lower the Spotify user count and make it fall apart Or maybe this isn't true idk
They need to stop focusing on streaming. Let's make everything streaming, while phone companies and internet companies are limiting data plans and **** like that. Um, how about no.
Let me download my **** so I can use it everywhere, plus if people can't afford to buy music, how are they going to afford 80 streaming sites like Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Google, Amazon at $10 a month, that's already $70 dollars a month if people have all 7.
Or maybe this isn't true idk 