Blog: Amazon Prime Music

In the latest example of media acquisitions, though one less likely to flood the headlines as Comcast’s purchase of Sky, Sirius XM has announced it will be purchasing streaming service Pandora for $3.

Music subscribers grew by 16% in the first half of 2018 to reach 229.5 million, up from 198.6 million at the end of 2017. Year-on-year the global subscriber base increased by 38%, adding 62.8 million subscribers.

MIDiA is proud to partner with DiMA on its inaugural Streaming Forward Report. Digital distribution, andstreaming in particular, has been transforming music business in recent years. Although digital business models had already transformed content marketplaces prior to the rise of streaming, it is the rise of streaming services that really flicked the switch on this radical transformation.

As the streaming music market matures, the bar is continually raised for the quality of data required, both in terms of granularity and accuracy. At MIDiA we have worked hard to earn a reputation for high-quality, reliable datasets that go far beyond what is available elsewhere.

MIDiA has just published a new report that analyses Amazon’s streaming music strategy and how this fits within the wider competitive landscape. Here are some highlights: Back in the days when online music meant online CD sales, Amazon was the king.

Amazon today announced ‘Amazon Prime Live Events’, a series of smaller capacity gigs by largely heritage acts made available exclusively to Amazon Prime members in the UK. The first wave of artists include Blondie, Alison Moyet and Texas.

In streaming’s earlier years, when doubts prevailed across the artist, songwriter and label communities, one of the arguments put forward by enthusiasts was that when streaming reached scale everything would make sense.

Amazon announced the anticipated launch of Amazon Music Unlimited in the UK today. For my full take on Amazon Music Unlimited see my previous post here. Make no mistake, Amazon are taking this launch seriously, with a coordinated PR campaign and press release quotes not only from Amazon’s head of streaming music Steve Boom but also from Jeff Bezos himself.