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It’s official, you can now tell Alexa to play free music.
Just a week after news broke that the world’s largest e-retailer may be in talks to break into the free streaming market, Amazon Music has launched its new free streaming service, Variety reported.
The free streaming tier is available exclusively through Alexa-enabled devices, and provides access to thousands of stations and Amazon Music playlists. The new service is reportedly the first tier of a full, ad-supported streaming service that is expected to launch at some point in the future, according to Variety.
Amazon announced the launch in a statement yesterday. “Beginning today, customers in the U.S. who do not yet have a Prime membership or a subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited will now be able to listen to an ad-supported selection of top playlists and stations for free with Amazon Music on compatible Alexa-enabled devices,” the statement read.
According to Variety, Amazon has quietly made its way to becoming the number three streaming service in the world, behind Spotify and Apple Music. The company’s entry into the free streaming market intensifies the brand’s competitive threat to other leading services.
Last week, Billboard reported that Amazon had offered to pay some record labels per stream in order to obtain free music licenses. Amazon reportedly declined to comment.
Billboard also noted that, as a distributor that can afford to discount music to support its core retail business, Amazon enters the free music industry in a more powerful place than music-focused competitors like Spotify, who face pressure to turn a profit.
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