First rumored back in 2013, the possibility that an Amazon music streaming service may be on the horizon has surfaced once again. Back then it was rumored that Amazon had held informal talks with music industry executives. But no service materialized. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Amazon has begun courting major record labels for its new music service. The service may rival iTunes Radio, which has been in the market for less than a year, but now holds eight percent of the U.S. music streaming market.
The service may be bundled with Amazon Prime. Costing $79 per annum, Amazon Prime gives subscribers access to the company’s video streaming service as well as free two-day shipping. The report claims that Amazon will place limits on the number of times a user can listen to a song or album. Once the limit is up, the service will ask them to buy the music.
The rumored Amazon music streaming service will be like iTunes Radio. Apparently it will offer suggestions based on users’ preferences, and won’t adopt an unlimited streaming model like Spotify. Amazon is said to be in talks with Universal, Sony and Warner Music, the biggest labels, to get access to their music. The labels haven’t commented on the talks. A spokesperson for Amazon declined to comment.
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