Amazon is giving people another reason to subscribe to its $99 per year/$10.99 per month Prime service: exclusive live music gigs. Prime Live Events will take place in London from May to July and see several artists performing at intimate venues.
Amazon is handling all the events and their promotion. Tickets will be available from the site and only Prime members will be able to buy them, but be warned: they're quite pricey. Thankfully, the gigs are being recorded and will be available to stream on Amazon Prime Video after each show finishes.
The first, and most expensive, of these concerts is Blondie's. It costs from £150 (around $195) for a ticket to see the iconic group at London's Round Chapel in Hackney. The other events are cheaper, ranging from £75 ($97) to £95 ($123) for Alison Moyet, Texas, and Katie Melua. Customers can only buy a maximum of two tickets.
It seems that the unique experience of being able to watch large artists in smaller, intimate venues is Amazon's justification for the high prices.
The retail giant has already tested running its own live music events in the past. It put on a Robbie Williams concert in London on December 14th, and another for John Legend at the Round Chapel the day after.
Amazon says more Prime Live Events will be announced at a later date. No word yet about them coming to the US, but the planned international expansion of Amazon Tickets services, which now allows those in the UK to buy event tickets ahead of their public release, suggest it will eventually happen.