Your Amazon Echo speaker could be singing a new tune by the end of the month, as reports suggest Amazon’s long-rumored discounted streaming music service is set to launch in the next few weeks.
The Verge, citing the all-powerful “sources familiar with the matter,” reports that Amazon’s Echo-based music service — rumored to cost just $5/month — will be available for consumption soon, while the company’s larger, more widely available on-demand music service will launch soon after the new year.
The latter service will reportedly be called Amazon Music Unlimited, according to AFTVNews, which uncovered details of the service — which will have the slogan “listen to any song” — buried in code for Amazon’s new Music app for the Fire TV.
The services’ imminent launch may have been accelerated with competitor Spotify’s rumored acquisition of SoundCloud.
Amazon — which already offers Prime members access to the smaller PrimeMusic library — is reportedly waiting to finalize deals with a number of record labels before announcing plans for the service, but sources say most of those agreements are now wrapped up, or nearly completed.
“If [Amazon] wants to get the deals done they can get them done quickly,” one source tells The Verge.
Amazon’s soon-to-launch services take on two distinct avenues.
The first service would cost $10/month and appears to be nearly identical to services like Apple Music and Spotify: unlimited, ad-free music you can stream or download to take with you anywhere.
The Echo-only option — which is rumored to be launching first — would apparently offer the same type of service, but at around half the price. The discounted rate isn’t just for being a good Amazon customer; it’s also a trade-off for sacrificing portability. That is, unless you regularly haul your cylindrical Echo speaker from place to place with you.
Amazon’s music service for Echo users will launch in the next few weeks [The Verge]
Exclusive: Amazon’s music subscription service will be called Amazon Music Unlimited [AFTVNews]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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