Amazon Offers Streaming Music for Free to All | TechTree.com

Amazon Offers Streaming Music for Free to All

But there’s a catch! The streaming music service would be constantly interrupted by ads and would remain free for only those who own an Amazon Echo device

 

Move over Spotify, Amazon is coming!  The company announced that it would be offering the music streaming service free of cost through the Amazon Music app on iOS, Android, Fire TV and on-the-web in select geographies where it was charging $9.99 a month from customers.

In a blog post, Amazon says that it would provide ad-supported free version of its music app to those who do not have either a Prime subscription or subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited. The company had launched the free services to users of Alexa and Echo devices in September and  now is extending it as part of its strategy to counter competition.

Though the service would be limited to the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, there is every chance that Amazon extends it across other geographies, especially in view of the growing customer base that rivals such as Spotify have been garnering for their free music. Spotify reportedly has 140 million users on board though in terms of offers it was second to Amazon.

In the blog, Amazon says that customers who do not have prime membership or a subscription can listen to songs from a selection of top playlists and thousands of stations on their devices. “Previously only available to customers on Echo devices, today’s news expands access to customers using the Amazon Music app on iOS, Android and FireTV… and with no subscription or credit card required.” 

The catalogue that Amazon is now offering free is the same that comes with Prime membership and the only differentiator is that it includes advertising. With YouTube pushing users to an ad-free world of music and videos, this move from Amazon could once again shake up the industry, especially among the low-end users in India where advertisements aren’t usually seen as a dampener.

Of course, at a larger level one could question whether Amazon’s freebies could hamper the business models of Spotify, Pandora or Apple Music. At this juncture, such an instance seems highly unlikely, given that Amazon boasts of a much smaller catalogue compared with the others though in the past it has come up with amazing offers with its limited means and this could be a concern.

There is also the question of personalization that Amazon currently lacks but could be definitely working upon. For e.g., Spotify’s Discover Weekly and custom playlists make for intelligence listening and is often considered the key differentiator by avid music fans. Of course, it could only be a matter of time where Amazon brings some level of artificial intelligence into its offerings.

Till date, Amazon was using its music and videos and cinema to nudge people to subscribe to Amazon Prime and the two million songs were always considered an added freebie. Analysts say that the company would continue to focus on bringing in more customers to Amazon prime through such offers in a bid to lock them in with benefits such as free shipping and these freebies.

So, it goes without saying that Amazon looks at music and films as an additional hook to get users to its sales platform where the more they shop, the better it would be for the company’s revenue numbers. In other words, it is highly unlikely now that Amazon would want to offer its music of entertainment as standalone products having a life of their own.

Of course, one must also consider the fact that Amazon is looking to become the voice of everything on the internet. And free music definitely serves as an entry point into the company’s extended ecosystem of music that was on display when it launched a series of hardware just about a month ago and took pride in the upgrades.

The company already has the wherewithal and the library to push ahead with its music brand as Prime members do have the option of joining the ad-free catalogue offering a whopping 50 million titles at $7.99 a month.

Of course, the true-blue audiophiles may still prefer Spotify or Apple Music.


TAGS: Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music

 
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