Amazon is getting into the music streaming game — big time.
This goes much further than Prime Music. According to Music Business Worldwide, Amazon’s next big plan will rival the likes Spotify, Apple Music and more. The platform will reportedly fer high-quality audio for approximately $15 per month.
Industry sources say the new platform is expected to launch before the end 2019.
“It’s a better bit rate, better than CD quality,” said one source. “Amazon is working on it as we speak: they’re currently scoping out how much catalog they can get from everyone and how they’ll ingest it.”
Currently, the best source for Hi-Fi music streaming is TIDAL, at $19.99 per month. The service fers CD-quality lossless streaming at 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
Another US-based music industry source told MBW: “Think about it: Amazon will have every tier recorded music covered, from free streaming through to limited catalog Prime, a full ‘Spotify rival’ in Music Unlimited and a hi-definition service – in addition to vinyl, CD, merch and more. We haven’t seen anything near what they’re capable in music yet.”
Amazon could easily shake things up. Stay tuned.
Source: Music Business Worldwide