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Amazon Music becomes a shopping experience for music fans

Amazon Music in-app merchandise shopping
Amazon

Starting today, the Amazon Music app is now home to music merchandise, much of which has been developed by musicians specifically for the app. According to the online giant, artist merchandise will appear on participating artists’ pages, side-by-side with their songs, albums, live streams, and music videos.

Users of the Amazon Music app can scroll and buy these items all while continuing to listen to music. The shopping integration is U.S.-only for now, with many of the products qualifying for Prime shipping for Amazon Prime members. You can also shop the collection on the regular Amazon website.

It’s no secret that few bands make enough money from streaming services to survive, and life during a pandemic has taken away their biggest source of income: Live performances and their accompanying merchandise tables. Weezer, one of the bands that are participating in the program, said in an Amazon press release, “Since the pandemic has temporarily eradicated the merch table, we’re really excited to have developed an exclusive collection of offerings with Amazon Music to bring the merch table directly to our fans.”

Weezer is apparently not alone. Amazon has signed up some big names as part of the initial launch including Billie Eilish, Jack Harlow, King Princess, Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez, and Gucci Mane. Most of the merchandise is apparel, like t-shirts and hoodies, but you’ll also find the occasional coffee mug or phone case too.

A few examples include:

  • Gwen Stefani hoodies and T-shirts
  • Queen Naija T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies sporting her crown logo, as well as designs tied to her song Butterflies Pt. 2 and her recent album Misunderstood
  • Pentatonix has a coffee mug themed to the band’s single Coffee in Bed, a Happy Now sweatshirt to commemorate the album’s opening track, and a notebook themed to the group’s song, A Little Space
  • Metallica is offering a set of exclusive throwback T-shirts
  • Wale has hoodies, T-shirts, and more tied to his most recent album, Wow… That’s Crazy
  • Florida Georgia Line has also developed exclusive merch for the project featuring T-shirts, phone cases, totes, and more
  • Even Queen is getting in on the action with a merchandise collection that features designs inspired by the “Queen Crest,” which Freddie Mercury originally designed in 1973 for the band’s debut album.

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Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like…
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