This could literally be music to subscribers of Amazon. Amazon Music is introducing new features and ad-free content to enhance the listening experience for Prime members with Amazon Music. The catch is that access to a full catalogue of music available in shuffle mode.
Other benefits unveiled Tuesday include most top podcasts’ availability in ad-free format, and features that make it easier to find new music and shows.
The company in a blogspot said Prime members will now be able to stream more music than ever before as it has expanded the Amazon Music catalogue for Prime members to include more than 100 million songs — up from two million — entirely ad-free.
Prime members can explore music and podcasts based on their likes, shuffle play any artist, album, or playlist in the catalogue and stream a collection of all-access playlists tailored to personalized listening preferences on demand and available to download for offline listening.
A Bloomberg report described the expansion as a new strategy to beat growth stagnation in the US, quoting from a July report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, a Chicago firm that tracks Prime members through consumer surveys.
Amazon raised its annual membership price by $20 in February and had about 172 million members as of June 30, the same as six months earlier, according to the report. Amazon Prime costs $15 a month and includes free shipping and access to the company’s movies and TV shows.
Steve Boom, vice president at Amazon Music, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying the service was an “amazing benefit” to Prime subscribers when it first launched.
“Customer expectations have evolved, as they always do, especially as music streaming itself has become mainstream,” he told Bloomberg in an interview, adding, “What we’ve heard consistently from our customers is they really want access to all the music.”
Meanwhile, the company blogspot stated Prime members can listen to the most ad-free top podcasts available on-demand, including shows from CNN, NPR, ESPN and The New York Times. The Wondery catalogue of premium podcasts, like Dr. Death, SmartLess, and Even the Rich, and new Amazon exclusive shows too are included in the series of new attractions.
“In addition to the most ad-free top podcasts available, listeners will begin to see a new look for the Amazon Music app, including the new Podcast Previews feature, which provides short soundbites from podcast episodes, helping customers sample the content as they browse the selection,” the company said.
The blogspot added that additional benefits and on-demand access to the full library, including over 100 million songs in HD and a growing catalogue of songs in ultra HD and spatial audio, are available by upgrading to the Amazon Music Unlimited tier.