Spotify isn’t Apple Music’s only competitor: Amazon Music now has 55 million subscribers.
The e-commerce giant revealed yesterday (January 22) that it now has more than 55 million subscribers around the world, the first time the company has shared growth metrics for its streaming service and revealing how many people pay to access its music content.
At the last count, Apple Music had 60 million subscribers around the world, so Amazon is not far behind and is giving Apple and Spotify a run for its money as a third streaming player.
What’s important to note, however, is that Amazon’s 55 million subscribers aren’t all paying the $9.99 that Apple Music and Spotify Premium users are paying, so the figure Amazon has provided is actually pretty inflated.
Amazon offers a free version of its Amazon Music service for Prime subscribers, offering ad-free access to more than two million songs. The company also offers an ad-sponsored version of Amazon Music, a free version offering access to select playlists, Amazon HD, which rivals TIDAL and offers high-definition streams, and Amazon Music Unlimited, a $3.99 per month per device plan for users who want to listen to ad-free music on Echo devices.
That’s on top of the $9.99 Amazon Music Unlimited plan, which serves as the direct Apple Music and Spotify competitor. According to Amazon, subscriptions for the $9.99 plan have grown by more than 50% in the past year, though the company didn’t give any numbers.
By comparison, Spotify currently has 113 million paying subscribers around the world, and hundreds of millions more who access the streaming service via its free ad-supported tier.
Have you tried Amazon Music? Let us know your thoughts on social media and check back soon for more news and rumors on the music streaming wars, as and when we get them.
