Amazon undercuts music streaming rivals with cheap subscription launch
Amazon has just launched Amazon Music Unlimited, a cheap subscription service designed to take on rivals including Spotify.
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The music streaming subscription service was launched on Wednesday. Amazon Music Unlimited, the e-commerce giant's answer to competing services including Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music, is available through the Amazon Music application as well as the Amazon Echo IoT voice assistant speaker system.
While Amazon Music does offer Prime members access to music content already, signing up to the new service will open the door to "tens of millions" of songs by a range of artists including Metallica, Sia, and Shawn Mendes.
Amazon has priced the subscription service with rivals in mind, undercutting aggressively to either eventually lure consumers away from competing services or, more likely, entice new streamers to try out music on-demand.
Amazon Music Unlimited is on offer for $9.99 a month, on par with other services. However, if you are an Amazon Prime member, you can expect to pay $7.99 per month -- and if you're willing to pay a flat annual fee of $79 up front, the cost is brought down to $6.58 a month.
The company is also offering a subscription option which lowers the price further. If you own an Amazon Echo, Dot, or Tap, you can choose an Echo-only subscription for $3.99 a month.
You can use Echo, powered by the Alexa voice assistant, to find and play sets of popular songs by your favorite artists, find a song based on lyrics alone, and request music playlists for particular occasions or your preferred genres, among other functions.
Amazon Music Unlimited is now available in the United States and will be rolling out to the UK, Austria, and Germany later this year.
While Amazon only offers individual subscription options at present, eventually, the company plans to introduce a $15 family license for up to six people this year.
In related news, reports suggest that Amazon is now planning to move from online grocery sales to mortar-and-brick physical outlets. In a bid to boost the Amazon Fresh delivery service, the company plans to open small grocery stores which will sell perishable goods that prove to be a problem for online sales, such as milk, fresh produce, and meat.