Members of Amazon's popular Prime service already get access to a huge amount of media in the form of movies and television shows. Soon, though, they may have an additional perk: access to a ton of music as well.
The retail giant is currently in talks with music labels to offer a "Spotify-like music subscription service, according to a report out from ReCode on Thursday. The service could apparently be added as soon as sometime this year.
Of course, this is far from a done deal and there will be complications down the road. In fact, the company may jave already run into a snag: sources told ReCode that Amazon executives are asking for similar discounts on pricing that services like Spotify, Rhapsody and Beats already get.
Amazon has been gearing up for this for a while now it seems with a slew of hires, including Michael Paull, a Sony music executive, who was hired in 2012 to head up its Amazon's digital music operations.
The company also hired Drew Denbo, a former executive at Rhapsody and MOG, to handle business development, as well as Adam Parness, who was in charge of licensing for Rhapsody.
It makes a lot of sense for Amazon to offer music streaming as part of Prime, as it allows the company to compete in a heavily saturated market.
In addition to the above-mentioned services, you also have Pandora, which is the big one. The company hit 200 million users in April, Pandora was able double its overall user base in two year, with 70.9 million of those users described as being "active." And you have All Access, the service from Google that was unveiled last May, and Apple's iTunes Radio which debuted last June.
There are no shortage of music streaming services to choose from, but making it a part of Prime, rather than as a standalone service, allows Amazon to give it to a pre-installed base of at least 16 million members. That means that, right away, the company will be able to nearly be on the same level as Spotify, which has 24 million active users.
The addition of music, though, could come with a heavy price for Prime users: namely a $40 increase, which the company began talking about last month.
Right now, Amazon offers its Prime membership for $79 annually which gives members free two-day shipping on all items sold by Amazon, unlimited streaming access to its video library, as well as access to its Kindle library lending program.
VatorNews has reached out to Amazon to confirm this news, and we will update if we learn more.
(Image source: www.cellz.com)
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Pandora, the leading internet radio service, gives people music they love
anytime, anywhere, through a wide variety of connected devices: laptop and
desktop computers, smartphones, connected BluRay players, connected TVs,
etc. Personalized stations launch instantly with the input of a single “seed” –
a favorite artist, song or genre. The Music Genome Project®, a deeply
detailed, hand-built musical taxonomy, powers the personalization or
Pandora. Using this musicological “DNA” and constant listener feedback
Pandora crafts personalized stations from the more than 800,000 songs that
have been analyzed since the project began in January 2000.
More than 75 million people throughout the United States listen to
personalized radio stations for free on Pandora through their PCs, mobile
phones and devices such as the iPad, and connected in-house devices
ranging from TVs to set-top boxes to Blu-Ray players. Mobile technology has
been a significant factor in the growth and popularity of Pandora, starting
with the introduction of the Apple app store for the iPhone in the summer of
2008. Pandora instantly became one of the most top downloaded apps and
today, according to Nielsen, is one of the top five most popular apps across
all smartphone platforms.
Pandora is free, simple and, thanks to connectivity, available everywhere
consumers are – at the office, at home, in the car and all points in between.
In 2009 the Company announced that Pandora would be incorporated into
the dashboard in Ford cars via SYNC technology; GM has already followed in
announcing plans to integrate Pandora into its vehicles and Mercedes-Benz
introduced their Media Interface Plus device that works with the
free Pandora iPhone app to provide direct control of Pandora from in-dash
stereo controls. This was all great news for the millions of Pandora listeners
who had been plugging their smartphones into car dashboards to listen to
personalized stations while driving. More than 50 percent of radio listening
happens in the car, making it a crucial arena for Pandora.
Today tens of millions of people have a deeply personal connection with
Pandora based on the delight of personalized radio listening and discovery.
These highly engaged listeners reinforce the value Pandora provides to: 1)
musicians, who have found in Pandora a level playing field on which their
music has a greater chance of being played than ever before; 2) advertisers,
who benefit from the multi-platform reach of Pandora, as well as its best
practices in targeting consumers for specific campaigns; 3) the music
industry, which has found in Pandora a highly effective distribution channel;
and 4) automobile and consumer electronics device manufacturers, who have
noted that incorporating Pandora into their product makes it more valuable
to consumers.
Pandora continues to focus on its business in the United States. The radio
arena has never been hotter, thanks to technology that enables radio to be
personalized to the individual and more accessible than ever before. Right
now millions of people listen to Pandora in the United States and we hope
someday to bring Pandora to billions of people around the world.
Timeline:
• 2000 – Tim Westergren’s Music Genome Project begins.
• 2005 – Pandora launches on the web.
• 2008 – Pandora app becomes one of the most consistently downloaded
apps in the Apple store.
• 2009 – Ford announces Pandora will be incorporated into car
dashboard. Alpine and Pioneer begin selling aftermarket radios that
connect to consumers’ iPhones and puts the control and command of
Pandora into the car dashboard.
• 2010 – Pandora is present on more than 200 connected consumer
electronics devices ranging from smartphones to TVs to set-top boxes
to Blu-ray players and is able to stream visual, audio, and interactive
advertising to computers, smartphones, iPads, and in-home connected
devices.