Amazon offers ad-supported free music streaming service

FILE - In this July 27, 2018 file photo, the logo for Amazon is displayed on a screen at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York. Amazon.com Inc said on Monday it has introduced an ad-supported free version of its music streaming service Amazon Music. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - In this July 27, 2018 file photo, the logo for Amazon is displayed on a screen at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York. Amazon.com Inc said on Monday it has introduced an ad-supported free version of its music streaming service Amazon Music. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Published Nov 19, 2019

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INTERNATIONAL - Amazon.com Inc said on Monday it has introduced an ad-supported free version of its music streaming service Amazon Music, taking on rival Spotify Technology which has nearly 140 million users for its free version.

Amazon offers paid plans for its music service starting at $9.99 per month and it is also part of its prime bundle. The company launched a free version of its music service for Alexa users on Echo devices in September.

Spotify, the world’s most popular music streaming service, also offers a “freemium” model that includes a free ad-supported version along with a paid ad-free version at $9.99 per month.

However, Apple Inc’s Apple Music offers only paid subscription service for $9.99 per month and accounts for nearly a fifth of the paid music streaming market, according to Counterpoint Research.

Amazon shares were up nearly 0.5%, while those of rival Spotify fell about 5%.

In other news,  Amazon.com is lowering the fee it charges in Germany for delivering groceries through its Fresh service and allowing its Prime subscribers to pay per order instead of committing to monthly membership, the US company said on Thursday.

Amazon said last month it would eliminate its grocery delivery charge for Prime members in the United States and make shopping easier by combining AmazonFresh and Whole Foods Market ordering on a single site, as it battles rival grocery sellers. On Thursday, Amazon said it would cut the monthly membership fee for Fresh in Germany to 7.99 euros ($8.80) from 9.99 euros and also reduce the additional delivery fee for orders worth less than 40 euros to 3.99 euros from a previous 5.99 euros. 

REUTERS

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