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Amazon and Pandora are closing in on licensing agreements with the world's largest record labels to launch their own streaming music services later this year, reports Financial Times.
Both subscription-based services are expected to cost $9.99 per month, a price that has become the industry standard, and compete with heavyweights like Apple Music and Spotify.
Amazon's offering could launch as early as September, according to the report, while Pandora is said to be making progress towards debuting its service later this year.
Reuters first reported Amazon's plans to launch a standalone streaming music service in June, followed by a Recode report last week claiming the online retailer is also working on a $5-a-month subscription music service that will be exclusive to owners of the company's internet-connected Echo speaker.
Amazon currently sells individual songs or albums through Amazon Music, while Amazon Prime subscribers can stream Amazon music, playlists, and radio stations for free, but the selection is limited compared to Apple Music and Spotify.
Pandora's ambitions to launch its own subscription music service, likely based on its acquisition of "key assets" from Rdio in 2015, were first reported by The Wall Street Journal earlier this month. The company plans to offer two price tiers by also slightly tweaking its existing $5 per month ad-free option with select new perks like skipping songs and offline listening, the report said.
Pandora currently offers customers in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand the ability to listen to free, ad-supported radio stations centered around particular artists or songs, rather than offering on-demand listening like Apple Music. By offering only randomized, radio-like stations that prevent users from playing specific songs, it has been able to bypass licensing agreements with major record labels.
Top Rated Comments
I understand the benefit from a corporate perspective, but still. Plus, you have all of these different music subscriptions and then "exclusives" to each one. It's annoying for the end user.
Unless Pandora and Amazon can expand outside of those borders, it's no dice for me at least.
I feel that in a couple years (maybe sooner?) the music streaming business is going to shrink to 2-3 services from where it is now. I do like the option of choices, but too many gets a little overwhelming.
I am with you on this one. Even if Amazon, Google, and Apple were bleeding red for the music service, they will continue to offer it because they are loaded with cash and will be able to absorb the loss, if any. Any other company will only die or get bought up cause they won't be able to sustain losing money to compete with the three giants.I am equally interested in a "high-quality audio" subscription, but I will miss the audio jack. Syncing my phone to a wireless product can in no way be more intuitive than simply plugging something in. And then there is the sound quality itself. It's not good enough for Woz, and it's not good enough for me either.
That's the entire point of using the Lightning port to plug in headphones. They can actually be better sounding than your current 3.5mm headphones if they include their own DAC and can be noise cancelling without a need to be charged.If Apple builds AirPlay enabled wireless earbuds, they will sound far better than Bluetooth as well. I'd wait and see, as Woz is going to do.
Would also help to hype the Lightning Port Audio on the new Iphone that noone really wants at the moment..
But then again, people will still miss the old Audio Jack