Rumors are circulating that Amazon wants to get in on the music streaming bandwagon, and will attempt to compete with services like Spotify and Apple Music. However, it seems that rather than fielding just one subscription to customers, the company will offer two very different plans.
Amazon will apparently offer a $10 per month tier that fills a similar niche to its biggest competitors; unlimited streaming across all devices, the option to download songs for offline playback, and no ads. The cheaper plan, though, is where its strategy would diverge from the standard model, according to a report from Recode.
The lower-priced tier of Amazon’s streaming service would still offer unlimited streaming, downloadable songs, and remove all advertisements. However, it would only be accessible via the company’s Echo internet-connected speaker, which launched in the United States last year.
Amazon is mulling over whether to charge $4 or $5 per month for this cheaper version of the service. It seems to be an attempt to draw consumers into its ecosystem — the company sold a million Echo units in 2015, but wants to raise that figure to 3 million this year, and 10 million in 2017.
The question is whether consumers would buy into a service that doesn’t allow them to take their music on the go. The likes of Spotify and Apple have put a huge focus on mobile in their efforts, and it remains to be seen whether a competitor that’s more concerned with streaming in the home could put up much of a fight.
Amazon already operates a music streaming service as an added benefit for Prime subscribers, but its selection of tracks and artists is much more limited than dedicated options. It’s unclear whether this program would continue alongside the company’s standalone streaming plans.
