Amazon would be about to launch a free music streaming level

Amazon would be in talks to offer a free level of its advertising-funded music service, according to a report by Display panel. Although there is no detail as to whether it will be more on the radio or on demand, Display panel suggests that this new free service will highlight Amazon as a direct competitor of the market leader, Spotify.

Amazon plans to market the new option via its Echo speakers, and Display panel says that it could be available as early as this week. The free level will have a limited catalog of music and Amazon would have obtained the licenses by offering to the participating labels a contract to pay by flow. The payment rate is not related to the amount of advertising sold by Amazon.

Music is a solid part of Amazon's business – last year, a representative said The edge Amazon Music has tens of millions of active subscribers. This may be due in part to agreements made in other countries. US Prime members have free access to a selected music catalog and can purchase separately a larger monthly subscription, ranging from $ 3.99 to $ 9.99, depending on the number of devices used and if you are already a member from Amazon Prime. In other countries, like India, Amazon offers much cheaper Prime subscriptions with integrated music and video services.

Despite the growth of Amazon Music, the category remains a major loss for the company. But, he can afford to subsidize the costs. Amazon made profits of more than $ 10 billion last year, thanks largely to its cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services.