Get ready to listen and enjoy all your favorite songs with Amazon Prime’s new feature. Amazon is ready to launch its online music streaming service in the country. The same was earlier released in the United States in 2014 as an extension to its video streaming services. According to the official statement, Prime music will be launched as a part of the Prime services in India.
Apart from watching the latest movies and songs, users can also avail benefits of some of the best Amazon offers available on its e-commerce platform. Competing in the already crowded music market, Amazon’s biggest rivals will be Gaana, Saavn, and Apple Music in India. In a bid to tackle this, the company is offering ad-free music streaming and unlimited offline downloads in about 10 languages with no additional cost to the existing Prime subscribers.
Amazon is keeping no stone unturned in order to make its mark and it very well knows that the best way to do that, as an entrant, is through content. In order to outline its competitors, Amazon has partnered with over 8 national and 300 regional record labels along with creating a global music catalog to keeps users hooked to its diverse content.
This service is completely separate from Amazon Music Unlimited, launched in 2016 with a repertoire of millions of songs that haven’t been released in India yet.
Further, Amazon is integrating a voice control music feature in its music app, as part of Amazon Prime Music, which will be synced across all your devices.
Amazon launched the Prime video streaming services in India, in 2016, with a budget of Rs. 2000 crores. According to experts, it will be making a bulk investment to create a mark in the market which although small, but extremely competitive.
Companies like Saavn are launching their own artists, albums, singles, and shows similar to the jukebox, radio shows, or storyboards in order to create specific content which draws and keeps users on their platform. However, unlike the Prime video which has multiple shows of its own with some of the popular YouTube artists, Amazon is not yet ready to launch originals.
“We have no plans to become a record label and have no plan to do originals. However we continue to work closely with label partners and see what more in terms of musical experiences we can offer,” said Sahas Malhotra, Director of Amazon Music India in an interview.
According to Deloitte, the Indian music industry is expected to generate a revenue of more than 3000 crores by 2020 over a user base of approximately 270 million online listeners. As per the analysis, market divisions have Gaana as the highest bidder with over 60 million monthly users on its online app and website. Saavn stands second with a 22 million user base and the rest is occupied by other small vendors like Wynk, Sur, etc.
Amazon is expected to pitch with 10 million users as per its Prime subscribers in India becoming the 3rd highest competitor as soon as it launches.
During its last venture i.e. the video streaming services, Amazon was able to surpass Netflix by offering cheaper prices and was able to garner an audience of more than 600,000 dedicated viewers. Considering its large share in the online marketplace, loyal user base in Prime video services, and owing to the authentic content due to exclusive partnerships and creative content creation (possibly later), Amazon might as will be keeping others on their toes in terms of competition and will be covering a significant market base in this growing industry in a short span of time.
