855668_largerAmazon is planning on launching a new standalone music streaming service that would compete against Apple Music and Spotify, reports Reuters. The new service will be priced similarly to rival services and will feature a "competitive catalog."

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 is finalizing licenses with labels for the service, which likely will be launched in late summer or early fall, the sources said.

Amazon currently offers Prime Music to Amazon Prime members as a perk, but the service only boasts a catalog of 1 million songs. Comparatively, both Apple Music and Spotify boast catalogs of over 30 million songs.

The online retailer is looking to launch a new streaming service because it "believes a comprehensive music service is important" in its effort to be a "one-stop shop for content and goods." Amazon Prime, in addition to free shipping options, currently offers subscribers access to the Prime Video streaming service, Prime Music, unlimited photo storage and the Kindle Owner's Lending Library, which includes 800,000 free ebooks.

Reuters suggests Amazon's music strategy will be two-pronged, with basic streaming for Prime users and a more robust alternative for an extra fee. Amazon recently debuted Amazon Prime Video as a standalone service, allowing users to subscribe for $8.99 a month without paying for the full $99 Amazon Prime bundle. The standalone Prime Video service is identical to the service offered with Amazon Prime.

Amazon Music with Prime Music, the company's current music app, is free on the App Store and allows users to play their digital music purchased from Amazon.com. The app also allows Prime members to listen to its catalog of a million songs ad-free as well as curated playlists and radio stations.

Tag: Amazon

Top Rated Comments

Oblivious.Robot Avatar
Oblivious.Robot
67 months ago
Good, more competition is always better for the consumers.
Until they all start having "exclusive" content, that's when we all lose.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fancuku Avatar
Fancuku
67 months ago
Good, more competition is always better for the consumers.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
psylence2k Avatar
psylence2k
67 months ago
1-million songs isn't competition.
that's what they currently have now as a freebie to prime users.

This article is about them launching a more full scale music service.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Shirasaki Avatar
Shirasaki
67 months ago
Amazon goes into streaming? Not unexpected, but given Amazon sells a ton of music simply unavailable in Apple Music and iTunes Store, I think there might be customers using it.

Again, streaming means "once label pulls out access, user lose everything. No exception"
Purchasing means "I can still listen to my loved songs, regardless of being pulled by label or not.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OllyW Avatar
OllyW
67 months ago
They're going to have the same songs that Apple Music and Spotify have. I highly doubt the quality of their tracks are going to be better than either of those services. Outside of possible exclusives what competition is Amazon going to bring?
I don't know, what does Apple Music bring over Spotify other than a good chance it will screw up your carefully curated iTunes Library. :D
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarHeadz Avatar
WarHeadz
67 months ago
Have to bring to other countries other than USA if they want to compete.
There are other countries?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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