Amazon Launches 'Prime Music' Streaming Service with Access to Over One Million Songs

[Chupa Chupa]

I just don't get streaming services. How are they different than listening to the radio or to on-line radio? Or indeed how do they differ from the user-generated playlists that we used to see in iTunes? If I like a song I buy it. I don't want to rent songs.

1) They customize your listening preferences down to specific songs you don't want to hear. Also better music discovery since your preferences are matched.

2) In some, you can curate your own albums.

3) Fewer ads, or when used with some devices or if you pay, no ads.

4) No annoying DJs with their insipid comments or long winded stories of how drunk they got last night.

 

[Steve121178]

It's not "free" unless you are comped; i.e., don't pay an annual fee. Otherwise it's subsidized. Free is when you pay 0.

The prices of the items I am buying haven't changed to compensate for the free delivery. Obviously the markup/profit on each item Amazon sells compensates for that.

As an example, if I was to buy a PS4 today, I could get free next day delivery. Before I was a prime member, it would cost £5-£12 for guaranteed next day delivery.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

The prices of the items I am buying haven't changed to compensate for the free delivery. Obviously the markup/profit on each item Amazon sells compensates for that.

As an example, if I was to buy a PS4 today, I could get free next day delivery. Before I was a prime member, it would cost £5-£12 for guaranteed next day delivery.

Right but you only get that delivery BECAUSE you paid Amazon a fee to be a prime member. Thus, it's not free, it's subsidized. Because you are a prime member there is no ADDITIONAL charge + next day upgrade. But, you did pay something.

 

[velocityg4]

Great more garbage I have no desire to use. Amazon really needs to make a tiered service. So that those whom just want delivery can get that. I have no interest in the music and the movies included with Prime are absolute garbage and loaded with artifacts due to the absurdly low bit rate.

 

[dallardice]

I don't think they're growing UK market share. Because of their recent changes, I've downgraded my lovefilm subscription, and reduced my purchases (so I can take advantage of free supersaver delivery).

I'd guess their delivery cost base is higher in the UK, but this looks a bit like a reversal out of the market…

I cancelled my auto-renewal of Prime in the UK when they increased the price. I'm not interested in LoveFilm (I subscribe to Sky Movies which gives me a much better range on-demand and I always have iTunes to fall back on) so it was essentially a 60% price increase.

 

[Rogifan]

This is where Apple is falling down, their embrace on selling songs has impeded to a large part that ability to set up a streaming service. I think Amazon has the edge with this and it keeps getting better.

I haven't tried Amazon's, as I use Pandora.

How is Amazon's streaming service superior to Beats? It certainly doesn't have the same amount of content.

 

[dpace32]

works for US student accounts too!

 

[Steve121178]

Right but you only get that delivery BECAUSE you paid Amazon a fee to be a prime member. Thus, it's not free, it's subsidized. Because you are a prime member there is no ADDITIONAL charge + next day upgrade. But, you did pay something.

Sure, but the amount I order from Amazon each year, we are talking pennies for each order for next day delivery.

I can live with that.

 

[technopimp]

Interesting addition. I'll take it, but shipping is my "prime" interest, and Amazon is cutting off more and more items all the time by classifying them as "add on".

I think Amazon is becoming a Jack-Of-All-Trades, master of none. Or maybe the all you can eat buffet w/ nothing appetizing being served. Prime is feature rich but the content is very thin. Is streaming mostly backlist albums going to sell more Amazon devices (phones, Fire TVs, etc) ? I kind of think not.

I agree. The "add-on" thing that was quietly introduced really irks me, especially due to the seemingly random and inconsistent way they classify those items. One of the main allures of Prime was just that-I could but ANYTHING and have it in 2 days for free. I don't appreciate now being forced to spend $25 just to get the $7 item I wanted, so now I find myself shopping elsewhere. Sad.

 

[dumastudetto]

Amazon can introduce all the gimmicks they want but they'll never be able to compete with Apple with their gadgets and services. And let's be honest, Prime Music is totally lame with a pathetic amount of music available.

 

[FlatlinerG]

Don't want it, don't use it... as difficult as that may be to understand.

I'm not sure you understand his post. What he means is that they increased the price of the product because of a new feature that he doesn't want. What he wants is to pay the lesser price because the addition will not be used.

It's like buying a car, if next year the car comes standard with A/C and to offset the cost of making it standard they increased the price, but you live in a climate that doesn't really need A/C should you NEED to pay that $500 extra?

Not really the best analogy, but I hope you see what he/I mean.

 

[smakdown61]

I just don't get streaming services. How are they different than listening to the radio or to on-line radio? Or indeed how do they differ from the user-generated playlists that we used to see in iTunes? If I like a song I buy it. I don't want to rent songs.

I listened to about 40 different songs yesterday on Spotify that I picked out specifically for my own playlist. Instead of paying (on average) $40 for those 40 songs, I pay $10/month. That would have been 1/3 of the cost of spotify for a year in 1 day. If you listen to a large variety of music its well worth it.

 

[dragje]

Big failure

Songs older then 6 months? No thanks!

I stick to a payed spotify account, it beats all contesters including Apple.

 

[Polansky]

Looks good and Amazon didn't even need 3 billion dollars for doing so....

 

[Tiger8]

Wonderful. Amazon raised the price of Prime $20 to give me a service I didn't want.

What about the rising postage costs for the past 5 years? You didn't notice that? USPS and UPS and Fedex all have been increasing shipping costs.

For someone who uses it, Prime is a fantastic value.

 

[krravi]

Wonderful. Amazon raised the price of Prime $20 to give me a service I didn't want.

Thats still 20$ a year! Divide that by 12 and then compare the cost of other streaming subscription service!

 

[Steve121178]

Amazon can introduce all the gimmicks they want but they'll never be able to compete with Apple with their gadgets and services. And let's be honest, Prime Music is totally lame with a pathetic amount of music available.

Are you saying the Kindle didn't sell very well?

 

[Alex Cutter]

One Million Pop songs Dance/Electronic section is pretty weak I hope this is because it just got launched or else I am annoyed not one Sunlounger or Armin Van Buuren heck zip Chill Out albums.

You seem very upset.

 

[VulchR]

I listened to about 40 different songs yesterday on Spotify that I picked out specifically for my own playlist. Instead of paying (on average) $40 for those 40 songs, I pay $10/month. That would have been 1/3 of the cost of spotify for a year in 1 day. If you listen to a large variety of music its well worth it.

OK, not trying to be obtuse or anything, but if you want to listen to those same 40 songs in subsequent years you have to pay again and again. I guess the question is whether or not you believe you will get bored of the songs that you would consider purchasing. If so, then streaming might make sense. However, I rarely get bored of music that I buy, so the one payment makes sense to me.

It seems to me to be impossible to stream music over and over again as cheaply as a company can send the music to the user's local storage. If I am correct, then it comes down to which service better provides you with music discovery. So far for me, iTunes does a pretty good job in this regard.

 

[dannyyankou]

[...] a free service [...] charging $99 per year.

That's what all the music streaming services are charging and that's only $8.33 a month. Pretty good for unlimited music...

 

[Mockenrue]

How is Amazon's streaming service superior to Beats? It certainly doesn't have the same amount of content.

It's not superior to Spotify or Beats. Nor is the unlimited video selection superior to Netflix. Nor is the lending library selection superior to Oyster. But these services are much appreciated for those of us who buy Prime for the shipping convenience. The price hike is more related to those shipping costs. In typical Amazon fashion, they want to keep the price of entry down to get you in the ecosystem. I'm sure they aren't targeting big profits from Prime subscriptions, but rather from the purchases you make to take advantage of the consistent, convenient 2 day shipping that you already bought.

 

[applesith]

This is very cool but the app keeps closing since I updated. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[Jessica Lares]

This is very cool but the app keeps closing since I updated. Anyone else have this problem?

Yep, same here. Are you jailbroken by chance?

 

[lotzosushi]

The Amazon Music app doesn't even show up in the App Store on iOS 8 Even clicking on the direct link redirecting to the App store doesn't work.

 

[macduke]

I hope they release "Prime Basic" where I can just get the free shipping thing. I never use any of their crap add-ons, yet they raise the price of Prime.

My biggest wish for 2015 is that these tech companies would stop trying to be mediocre at everything and concentrate on doing one thing really well before moving on. Get some focus!

Yeah...never gonna happen. I can dream.