Amazon reportedly has plans to launch a stand-alone music-streaming subscription service, which would challenge companies such as Spotify and Apple. The service will cost $9.99 per month, which is in the same price range as major rivals. After the tech giant secures licenses and labels for the new service it will probably launch it in late early summer or early autumn.
News about the new music streaming service was based on reports from two people who are familiar with the matter, according to Reuters.
Amazon already offers a free music streaming service. It is through its Prime shipping and video service.
Jeff Bezos' company will have a lot of tough competition in the music/video streaming space. However, Amazon seems to believe that it should provide a full music service in order to build a comprehensive shopping experience for content and products.
Apple Music and Spotify have a catalog of over 30 million songs. When Apple launched its service last year it was a sign that customers prefer subscription services over singles or albums.
A music streaming service would be one step closer to a single annual subscription. Amazon recently started allowing Prime subscribers to pay monthly fees.
Another goal of the new service is to boost sales of its Amazon Echo smart speaker. The voice assistant does web searches and orders Amazon products.
Echo was released widely last year, and since then Google announced plans to launch a smart speaker known as Google Home.
David Pakman was head of Apple's early music efforts. He said that it is unlikely that the new music service will take customers from Spotify but it could compete well against other industry players.
Jay Samit is Amazon's former music executive. After being informed of the company's business plan he stated that a music service would boost daily interactions between the online retailer and its customers.
In related news, a new survey by Prosper Insights & Analytics shows that 40 percent of Target shoppers are also Amazon Prime members, according to Quartz. Meanwhile, among those who have not signed up for Amazon Prime yet, twenty percent are considering it for the next year.
One key benefit of Amazon Prime membership is two-day shipping. Target has tried to keep up by launching its REDCard credit card program that offers free shipping for online orders.
Here's Amazon's Echo Dot: