Amazon Prime subscribers have something new to add to their list of perks. In addition to free shipping and Prime Instant Video, Amazon has launched Prime Music. Like Spotify, Prime Music is a streaming music service where listen get to set their playlist. Amazon Prime's $99 price isn't affected at all by this new service. But there are pros and cons.
First, the good. Prime Music is simple and intuitive, and it's easy on the eyes, too. A quick update to your Kindle Fire will put Prime Music into your music section, while the company's Amazon MP3 and Cloud Player apps for Android and iOS are being replaced with an all new Amazon Music app. The service is already populated with hundreds of curated playlists to suit all musical tastes, and subscribers will appreciate that Prime Music is completely ad-free. Prime members can even listen in offline mode to their hearts' content, and Prime Music integrates seamlessly with your existing music collection already stored in Amazon's cloud.
Prime Music's one big drawback is that it's starting out with only one million songs, and none of them are current hits. Amazon has nothing from Universal Music's vast catalog, and it has no exclusives -- which are becoming increasingly important in the crowded streaming music scene populated by Spotify, Rdio, Pandora, Beats Music, iTunes Radio, and more. Amazon says that it will constantly be adding more music to its collection, but for the foreseeable future Prime Music has a tiny fraction of what others offer.
Spotify has no reason for concern yet, but subscribers to Amazon Prime are likely to appreciate this new source of free music, despite its limitations. Still, Prime Music won't be cutting into Spotify's business anytime soon.
Amazon Prime Music is available now online, on Kindle Fire devices, and via apps for iOS and Android. Non-subscribers can try out Prime Music with a 30-day free trial.
Amazon is expected to introduce its first smartphone at an event on June 18, which is rumored to utilize 3D technology. It's a no-brainer to expect the Amazon phone to come with Prime Music already integrated, alongside access to the rest of Amazon's digital ecosystem. The big question is what part Prime will play in the phone's launch. Prime members are almost guaranteed to get a discount on purchasing the phone, but perhaps Amazon has even more surprises up its sleeves.
