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Amazon

Amazon to go head-to-head with Spotify with new music streaming service

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By John Glenday, Reporter

June 12, 2014 | 1 min read

Amazon is rumoured to be close to entering the streaming music fray with reports suggesting it could launch a rival service as early as next week.

Competing directly with the likes of Rdio, Spotify and Beats Music, the platform would be made available to existing Amazon Prime subscribers for free and offer access to a library of thousands of songs without advertising – although new releases will be excluded.

The New York Times suggests that the service will also exclude Universal Music Group artists owing to licensing difficulties meaning it is unlikely to be an attraction in its own right, but a welcome addition for existing customers.

A key stumbling block for labels was thought to be the low rates offered by Amazon for the right to use their content, believed to amount to a $5m royalty pool for smaller labels and larger one off payments for bigger players such as Sony and Warner Music.

Amazon presently has around 20m Prime subscribers worldwide with users in the UK stumping up £79 per year for the privilege.

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