Amazon Launches Prime Music Streaming Service
Amazon Prime has expanded its streaming service Prime, which previously focused on movies and TV, to include a component called Prime Music. The service, which is now live and will compete with Spotify, Pandora and Apple’s recently acquired Beats Music, offers a growing library of more than 1 million songs to existing Prime members at no additional cost to their membership and with a limited number of skips and no ad interference.
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Some of the artists whose music is now available on Prime Music are Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen, Madonna and Bruno Mars. The service also features Prime Playlists that were programmed with 20 to 50 songs to complement various events and occasions, ranging from “’90s R&B for a Girls Night” to “Cooking With Classical.” They also have playlists featuring the greatest hits of artists like Johnny Cash, Fiona Apple and Outkast as well as ones with specific themes like “Strong Indie Rock Women,” “X-Rated R&B Slow Jams” and “You Can’t Fire Me. . . I Quit!” The service, like its competition, will also make recommendations based on a user’s interest.
In addition to being available on the web, Amazon Prime Music will be available on some of the company’s Kindle devices and the company has made an Amazon Music app for Android and Apple’s iOS devices. The apps allow users to download songs to their devices for offline playback in places where there is not an internet connection.