Perhaps not satisfied with its own million-song Prime Music, Amazon is reportedly looking into launching a separate streaming service that would take on big players Spotify and Apple Music, a report in the New York Post suggests.
According to the Post’s “music sources,” Amazon “has held meetings in the past few weeks to discuss licensing tunes for a full-blown subscription music service” that would become a leader among streaming services. The Post reports that the plan is being spearheaded by Steve Boom, Amazon’s vice president of digital music.
Amazon’s Prime Music already offers its Prime subscribers access to a catalog of artists, stations and playlists as part of it’s $99-a-year subscription rate. But the one million songs fall far short of Spotify’s claim to over 30 million songs — being listened to by 20 million subscribers. Apple Music has the same number of songs.
Post sources say that Amazon is discussing a $9.99-per-month fee for the planned service, with an eye toward a launch in the fall. The monthly price could reportedly drop $3 or $4 if users bundle the service with Amazon’s Echo smart speaker.
The newspaper quotes a music industry insider who says, “The music industry wants to see all the tech giants fighting it out to try and really take streaming to the mainstream.”