Undisclosed sources close to the matter claimed on the condition of anonymity that the Chicago-based e-tailer might introduce a new music streaming service for its Prime users as early as this week.
It definitely looks like Apple and Google are not the only big boys who are interested in music, even though the Cupertino giant’s recent curiosity for Beats Audio, and the rumors regarding the search giant’s acquisition of music streaming service Songza might have suggested that. Amazon is looking to launch a music streaming service that won’t represent a threat to Spotify, Beats and Rhapsody, or at least at first.
The e-tailer made a habit out of launching various services along with its new devices, so the music streaming service might be the one in the case of the mysterious device that’s up for launch in a week from now. Since that product is believed by the entire world to be the 3D smartphone Amazon has been working on for a while, a music streaming service makes a lot of sense.
The sources claimed that the music streaming service will be offered in a first phase exclusively to Prime users, who already use a video streaming service that competes directly against Netflix. Since the Prime service has 20 million users, the company shouldn’t be worried about getting an initial user base.
While the latest hits won’t be streamable, everything else from Sony Music and Warner Music Group will be available. Universal Music has yet to sign a deal with the world’s largest e-tailer, in this aspect. However, getting a limited (yet extensive) catalogue of songs without any annoying ads is quite nice.
An industry source stated the following, suggesting that the music industry really believes in Amazon’s move: “We wanted to support it. It is a steppingstone. It shows that music is a priority for Amazon.”
I wouldn’t say that music is a priority for the e-tailer, but at the same time, I think that Amazon did good to get involved in this industry, as well.
The Street even wonders if the rumors regarding Amazon’s music streaming service will affect in any way the company’s stock. That will depend quite a lot on how people perceive this move, as Facebook’s stock plummeted when the social network announced the acquisition of Oculus VR.
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