eMarketer predicted that Amazon Music be the fastest-growing service for audio streaming in 2019 and through 2023. According to its latest statistics, Amazon Music will reach 35 million monthly U.S. listeners this year thanks to a growth rate of 17.7%. Continue Reading
Amazon reported its fourth-quarter financial results, closing the year with more big numbers and a big focus on its smart speakers. CEO and Founder Jeff Bezos gave a comment for the earnings press release, but his sole focus was the company’s voice assistant and smart home collection. Continue Reading
Things are looking good for Amazon’s musical efforts these days. Amazon is amassing a growing music audience that now numbers “tens of millions” of paying customers, while its Amazon Music Unlimited program has more than doubled its subscriber count in the past six months. The success of smart speakers and a growing number of Prime membership subscribers have been the main factors in Amazon’s music audience expansion, according to a top exec. Continue Reading
Amazon is continuing to mobilize for an expansion into India. The latest development is Amazon Prime Music extending its deal with Warner Music Group to offer the label’s catalog to listeners in that market. According to The Economic Times, this marks the sixth deal to expand the Prime Music library that will be available in India. Continue Reading
According to Cowen & Co., Amazon Prime’s U.S. membership is about 49.5 million people. The third-party analysis is based on a panel of 2,500 U.S. consumers, since Amazon has not explicitly shared its Prime data. Continue Reading
Amazon announced new month-by-month options for how its users can access Prime membership perks and its streaming video features. The entire Prime service can still be bought as an annual subscription for $99, but now is also available for $10.99 a month. That alone is a marked shift in Amazon’s model, but it has also made the Prime Video streaming service available as a standalone for $8.99 a month. Continue Reading
The holiday shopping period is usually a gold rush for retailers, and Amazon is no different. The company issued a press release with some key points from its December performance, and it revealed not just powerhouse results from the shipping and retail departments, but a surprisingly strong outcome for Prime Music as well. Continue Reading
Amazon Prime is the latest major company to add a concerts and live performance angle to its streaming service. It has made Qello Concerts available as an a la carte channel for its Prime members. Qello is an initial member of the Amazon Partners Streaming Program, which brings a la carte third-party video content to the platform. What might this signal about Amazon’s longer-term entertainment plans? Continue Reading
It has been a very busy year for Alphabet (née Google). Not only has the company undergone a major reorganization and rebranding, but its various entertainment properties have been putting down roots, entrenching themselves for the long journey to becoming the top dogs. The latest development comes from YouTube, which The Wall Street Journal (paywall) reports is working on building up its video offerings to include licensed movies and TV shows. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Amazon Prime may roll out in India; assessing Azoff’s ammo against YouTube; in-car listening as public performance? Continue Reading
Amazon’s head of digital music and video has departed the company. Bill Carr has spent 15 years with the online retailer, and was at the helm when the company entered the markets for both online music and streaming video. He was responsible for launching Amazon’s streaming music service for customers with Prime memberships. Continue Reading
Amazon’s gleaming-new music subscription service stepped into the market today, and we dove in quickly for a test drive.
Prime Music feels like a beta service on its first morning. We found problems with playing music, and an unwieldy system for streaming whole songs, albums, and playlists, which should be easy in an on-demand streaming service. The catalog is demonstrably small, with obvious voids in which one’s listening hopes are extinguished.
But all this might not matter to the intended audience, which is (for now, at least) existing Amazon Prime members. As of today, Prime Music is instantly one of the largest music subscription services in the world. Continue Reading