Prime Music: My First Impressions + what an Expert Says
At some point while we were all sleeping, Amazon launched Prime Music, through which users can stream unlimited tracks from Amazon’s music catalog. This all, no doubt, in preparation for their upcoming smart phone release. Don’t get too excited—Amazon’s music catalog can boast around 1 million songs—and that’s about it. Music streaming competitors’ numbers are more in the 20-30 million range for, well, not an increased price to match that ratio. Music industry critic Bob Lefsetz warns that the move is a step even further backwards from current music-streaming models via Apple and Spotify that take large percentages of profits from rights holders and musicians. The payment model is unclear, selection limited, and could turn out to be, as Lefsetz is quick to call it, “a disaster.” He suggests that Competitors will only see an increase in users. The imperfect attempt at a music streaming service has larger repercussions. If Amazon hopes to have a successful smart pho...