Under the leadership of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the e-retailer is on course to create a music service that will throw down the gauntlet to Spotify and other subscription-based music services.
According to sources of New York Post, Amazon is quietly preparing for the music service that is poised to be a Spotify killer.
The upcoming music service is pitted to be bigger than Amazon's Prime Music and the publication's sources in the music industry have let on that the company is already in the middle of licensing talks.
"Amazon is prepping a Spotify-killer, music sources tell The Post. The e-commerce giant has held meetings in the past few weeks to discuss licensing tunes for a full-blown subscription music service that would ape streaming music market leaders Spotify and Apple Music, several sources confirmed," notes the publication.
However, the plans are still at a nascent stage and speculations are rife that Steve Boom, Amazon's VP of Digital Music, is said to be leading the plans for the alleged service.
Presently, Amazon offers access to nearly 1 million songs to Prime subscribers who shell out $99 for the shopping service. It is believed that the upcoming music service from Amazon and Bezos will have a more comprehensive music catalog than that which is available on Prime Music.
Like rivals Spotify and Apple Music, the planned music streaming service from Amazon is also rumored to come with a monthly fee, which is about $9.99 per month according to The Post's sources. However, the company is also considering bundling it with Amazon Echo and may discount it by $3 to $4 per month.
When will Amazon's Spotify killer launch? It is believed that Amazon will introduce its music streaming service this year itself, possibly by fall.
Amazon already claims that it is the largest seller of physical music and No. 2 when it comes to digital music. With the launch of its intended subscription-based music service, Amazon is looking to tap into the lucrative digital music space and become the leading distributor of entertainment-based content, be it books, music, movies or TV.
The company has been on course to market its Amazon Echo pretty aggressively and rumors are pointing to a mini portable Echo in the pipeline.
Amazon seems to be looking to cash in on the burgeoning music streaming service market, and if its intended music service hits the right note, it could potentially stir things up.
"The music industry wants to see all the tech giants fighting it out to try and really take streaming to the mainstream," says a music industry source.
