E-commerce giant Amazon today launched Prime Music Service in India and has inked deals with five labels in the country, including Sony Music.
Earlier, the music service was restricted to Echo users, but now it can be accessed by Prime customers on web and via apps on iOS and Android.
Prime membership in India costs Rs. 999 per year as compared to Saavn at Rs. 1,050, Gaana at Rs. 1,020 and Apple Music at Rs. 1200. It also seems like the Amazon’s Music service will have an upper hand over its rivals, as the Amazon Prime membership gives access to free delivery from Amazon’s e-tail space on select items.
Leveraging the AI assistant, Alexa, users can simply tap on the Alexa icon on the app and give commands like – ‘Play Hindi songs’, ‘Play 80s Rock’, ‘Play Ed Sheeran’, or ‘Play Workout mix’. You can also download unlimited songs on Amazon Prime Music that can be later played in offline mode. Amazon is investing heavily in India, which currently stands at nearly $5 billion.
And while both Apple and Google claim to have over 40 – 45 million songs in their catalogue, Amazon India still has not specified a figure. Internationally, Amazon is home to over two million songs with Prime Music (part of Amazon Prime), and 40 million songs with Music Unlimited (a standalone service worth $8 per month with Prime and $10 without it).q