Amazon said on Tuesday it will make more ad-free music and podcasts available to its Prime members in the US. According to the e-commerce giant, Prime members, who have so far been able to listen to about 2 million songs without any advertisements, will now have access to over 100 million ad-free songs, along with top podcasts. The move comes as retailers work to bundle entertainment services such as streaming with their flagship apps in a bid to boost their membership offerings.
“Prime members can discover more new music and podcasts based on their likes; shuffle play any artist, album, or playlist in the catalog; stream a collection of All-Access playlists tailored to personalized listening preferences on demand and download them for offline listening,” Amazon wrote in a blog post.
Amazon’s fast-shipping and media service Prime has over 200 million members globally, including in India. The service costs $14.99 (roughly Rs. 1,200) per month and $139 (roughly Rs. 11,500) for the annual plan.
In India, Amazon Prime membership is priced at Rs. 179 a month, Rs. 459 every three months, and Rs. 1,499 for the annual plan. Users in India have enjoyed unlimited access to Prime Music since launch, with the service offering more songs than its US counterpart. Now, it’s the same.
Last month, Apple announced that its music streaming service, Apple Music, had over 100 million tracks available to stream for subscribers. Apple Music has steadily grown its catalogue and added various features and improvements such as lossless audio streaming and Dolby Atmos support, and is also available on multiple platforms such as iOS and Android.
According to the Cupertino company, around 20,000 new tracks are being added to Apple Music’s catalogue every day, as the streaming service now has considerably more tracks than rival Spotify.
Apple Music is available in India, starting at Rs. 49 per month for the voice plan, or Rs. 99 per month for an individual plan which allows access on multiple devices. In comparison, rival Spotify claims to have over 80 million tracks in its catalogue, with more flexible pricing plans in India that start at Rs. 7 per day.
