Amazon Music is Now Offered for Free on All of the Supported Platforms
Last updated September 24, 2021
- Amazon Music launches a new free tier that will be ad-supported and won’t require a subscription.
- The new tier will feature about 2 million songs and radio feeds, which is much less than the standard 50 million.
- This creates a new stir in a market that is shaped dynamically right now, as the move created ripples.
Amazon decided to make a brave decision and to introduce a new Amazon Music app tier that is free of charge for Android, iOS, Fire TV, and the web. The popular music streaming platform and online music store, which launched more than a decade ago have taken this decision after the competition in the field became too strangling. This bold change in business direction has affected Spotify’s stock price, which immediately dropped by 5%. Other competitors like Google Play Music, Apple Music, and Pandora will also be called to sustain the increasing pressure now, as Amazon is aggressively trying to capture a new audience from them.
While the word “free” sounds awesome, the two million songs and radio stations that will be available on the Amazon Music tier are still copyright protected, so the creators and their labels will still demand payment. This means that the new approach will be based on the serving of advertisements. Those who don’t accept the trade-off will be able to pay for an ad-free tier, so everyone will be covered. If you’re one of them, you may subscribe to the Unlimited tier (50 million songs) for $7.99 per month. The less Songlist-rich ad-supported tier, though, won’t require you to add a credit card.
The company is hoping that while the free tier isn’t featuring the humongous song collections of others, it will still be enough to lure people in. After all, Amazon is one of the key players in the market of smart home devices, and the whole plan is materialized with all the cogs turning to their benefit. Those who own Alexa-powered devices were already enjoying several free Amazon Music playlists and stations without having to subscribe, so Amazon is practically extending this to even more devices.
The music streaming market is an exploding one right now, and these moves are not random. ByteDance, the creator of TikTok, has also announced its plans to launch a Spotify-like streaming app that would cost a lot less than the competitors’ offerings. Reportedly, the company is already discussing with Universal Music, Sony Music, and Warner Music to secure global licensing deals, indicating that the service will be offered around the world. Amazon Music still remains one of the very few lossless audio streaming platforms, though, so audiophiles won’t look elsewhere no matter what service is launched.
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