Amazon and Pandora could each respectively introduce new versions of their music streaming services in the coming weeks, costing as little as US$5 per month, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the plans, The New York Times has reported.Pandora is expected to unveil, perhaps as early as this week, an expanded version of its US$5 subscription platform, according to the report. The New York Times reports the service will soon introduce new features such as the ability to skip more unwanted songs and to store several hours of playlists online, according to three people with direct knowledge of Pandora’s plans.
According to the people, by Christmas Pandora wants to introduce an on-demand service, comprising tens of millions of songs, taking on the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, expected to cost US$10 per month, The New York Times reports.
Meanwhile, in the coming weeks Amazon is expected to introduce a music service with a full catalogue, with a cost of around US$10 per month, or about half for customers who use its Echo voice-controlled speaker, according to several people briefed on the plans, The New York Times has also reported.
The music industry has evolved at pace in the last few years, with streaming having rapidly grown in popularity amid the emergence of a variety of services.
Recent Roy Morgan Research figures show that Australians are increasingly gravitating towards streaming, with downloads and online CD purchases losing ground.
Earlier in the year, Ovum described the consumer spending shift to accessing rather than owning music as “an unstoppable trend” resulting in “one of the biggest shake-ups in recorded music distribution for a century”.
