Amazon Music surpasses 55 million users, "nearly all" of which are paying subscribers

[Shawn Knight]

The big picture: Apple and Spotify’s stranglehold on the streaming music market isn’t as tight as perceived as a third competitor is right on their heels. Amazon has been able to make meaningful headway in the crowded streaming space thanks in part to its pricing structure.

Steve Boom, head of Amazon Music, told the Financial Times on Wednesday that the e-commerce giant’s music streaming service now has more than 55 million users. The figure encompasses six different price tiers, including an ad-supported free tier, although Amazon insists that “nearly all” of its users are paying subscribers.

For comparison, Apple said last summer that its Apple Music service had 60 million paying subscribers. As of last September, Spotify had 113 million paying subscribers and 248 million total listeners.

For $10 a month, you get access to roughly the same catalog of 50 million tracks that Apple and Spotify offer but if you’re a Prime subscriber, that rate drops to $8 per month. And if you listen exclusively on an Amazon Echo speaker, it goes down to just $4 a month.

Amazon is no stranger to selling music. The company was among the first to do so on the Internet with CDs in the 90s and even offered downloadable MP3s yet was surprisingly late to the streaming game. Amazon Music debuted in the latter half of 2016 whereas Apple Music landed in mid-2015 and Spotify made the jump over the pond in July 2011.

Masthead credit: Amazon Music by Nicole Lienemann. Headphones by welcomia.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/83664-amazon-music-surpasses-55-million-users-nearly-all.html

 

[Squid Surprise]

It's quite disingenuous though, as it comes "free" with Amazon Prime for anyone who subscribed within a certain time period (can't remember the dates, but I'm included).

So I count as a "paying Amazon Music customer" and I've never used it nor do I plan on doing so... I DO love my 1-day shipping though

 

[Vrmithrax]

It's quite disingenuous though, as it comes "free" with Amazon Prime for anyone who subscribed within a certain time period (can't remember the dates, but I'm included).

So I count as a "paying Amazon Music customer" and I've never used it nor do I plan on doing so... I DO love my 1-day shipping though

You may be thinking of Prime Music, which comes free with your Prime membership - it's got a ton of music available for play through apps, on Echo, etc. Not all artists are available, and the library changes regularly with artists/albums coming and going.

Amazon Music Unlimited costs above and beyond the free Prime level, has the massive full catalog, and is more on par with Apple Music and Spotify. I have to wonder if Amazon is counting the base Prime Music users along with the other pay tiers as well for their numbers?

 

[Dimitrios]

It's quite disingenuous though, as it comes "free" with Amazon Prime for anyone who subscribed within a certain time period (can't remember the dates, but I'm included).

So I count as a "paying Amazon Music customer" and I've never used it nor do I plan on doing so... I DO love my 1-day shipping though

Same here, got it free and still do lol!

 

[Homerlovesbeer]

I wonder where Tidal sits in the numbers as I'm a Tidal subscriber because they have the best catalogue and offer HI-RES streaming.

 

[Impudicus]

Worst music app I've used. Have to click off numerous pop up and promotions to get to your music. not at all safe to use in the car. I have since moved on and abandoned the few purchases I made when I first started using the app. At first, a few years back, there were no pop ups to clear to get to the music. Even then the layout was trash.