Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN is adding benefits to its already robust Prime membership umbrella by making more ad-free music and podcasts available to its more than 200 million Prime members.
What Happened: According to a press release, Amazon Music expanded its offering for Prime members, bringing them a full catalog of 100 million songs — up from 2 million — and top podcasts available ad-free at no additional cost to their membership.
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The 2 million songs that were previously available to stream on-demand will now primarily be limited to the shuffle-play mode for Prime members listening to music on Amazon Music and is based on artist, album or playlist.
According to Amazon, Prime members can download songs for offline listening and play them on-demand via "All-Access" playlists tailored to their listening habits.
The decision to bolster its podcast business can be considered a direct shot at Spotify Technology SA SPOT in an effort to increase its revenue. The e-commerce behemoth hopes its offering of ad-free podcasts and a vast music library will make Amazon Music an attractive alternative to top competitors.
Why It Matters: Users need to pay extra for the Amazon Music Unlimited tier, which is $9.99 per month for non-Prime members and $8.99 per month with Prime, to enjoy complete on-demand access and offline listening.
In addition to HD music, the Unlimited plan offers an increasing number of tracks in Ultra HD audio and spatial audio.
Amazon Music ranks third in the top 10 most used music streaming services, behind Spotify and Apple Inc AAPL Music.
Check out Amazon's quote page, here.
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