Amazon debuts music streaming service and expands grocery branches | M&M Global

Amazon debuts music streaming service and expands grocery branches

Amazon has launched its own standalone, on-demand music streaming service, Amazon Music Unlimited, in the US, offering significant discounts to those who only stream using connected speakers.

Amazon logoThe service is available for $7.99 per month for Prime members or $9.99 per month for non-Prime members. However, those who choose the ‘for Echo’ subscription plan can listen only on connected Amazon Echo speakers for just $3.99 per month, which differentiates the service from rivals.

The UK, Germany and Australia are next to be offered the service, with a family plan due to be release later this year.

Amazon previously offered Prime members access to Amazon Music but with a limited catalogue, as opposed to the “tens of millions” of songs from Sony, Universal and Warner as well as thousands of playlists and personalised stations that the new service claims to offer.

The service will be ad-free and will work across any Amazon Music compatible device, competing against rivals like Spotify, Apple Music and the newly discounted Pandora options.

Another jewel in the service’s crown is Alexa’s machine learning which Amazon claims makes the experience “more conversational and personalised”, playing songs personalised to your tastes, as well as more complicated requests like matching a mood or a genre from a particular era.

The Amazon Music app has also received a makeover, to include a ‘Home’, ‘Recommended’ and ‘Now Playing’ section including synchronised lyrics.

Stepping into the physical world, Amazon has revealed plans to introduce convenience stores with curb side pickup locations, selling produce, milk, meats and other perishable items for its Fresh subscribers.

Touch screens around the store would allow customers to order goods with longer shelf lives for same-day delivery. For a quicker turnaround, customers could utilise drive-in locations where grocery orders are brought to the car, using license-plate reading tech.

This follows Amazon recently dropping its $299 annual price for Fresh, replacing it with a $15 monthly fee for its $99 annual Prime service customers. Currently, Groceries account for about 20% of consumer spending while online grocery sales in the US only account for 2%.

Watch our video interview with Amazon Media Group’s global head of ad sales Seth Dallaire at Dmexco here.

Anna Dobbie

Reporter

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