Amazon's Free Music Service Stirs Up Music Streaming War

Increasing usage of smartphones and Internet has resulted in growth of music streaming services. Additionally, rising proliferation of smart speakers and wearables that enable synchronization with music streaming apps is adding to demand for such apps.

Per a report from ResearchandMarkets, global music streaming space is expected to see a CAGR of 16% between 2019 and 2023.

Moreover, according to a report from Statista, the music streaming market is expected to generate $11.1 billion revenues in 2019. The figure is expected to rise to $13.1 billion at a CAGR of 4.1% between 2019 and 2023. Further, user penetration for 2019 is pegged at 14.7%, which is likely to be 16.1% in 2023.

Tech companies like Amazon AMZN, Apple AAPL, Alphabet’s GOOGL Google and traditional media companies like Sirius XM SIRI have taken notice of the prospects and are trying to strengthen presence in the space.

Will Amazon’s Aggressive Stance Aid its Market Position?

Amazon has been making every effort to bolster presence in the global music streaming service, which is currently dominated by Spotify SPOT, by strengthening Amazon Music service.

The company’s launch of ad-supported free version of Amazon Music on iPhone, Android and Fire TV, is the testament to the same. Notably, previously Amazon Music was available for free only on Echo speakers.

With this move, the company will be able to reach audience, who are not willing to pay subscription fee to listen to songs. Consequently, this will help Amazon in gaining further in the market.

Further, free Amazon Music is likely to give a tough competition to Spotify, Google, Apple and Sirius XM, which are leaving no stone unturned to capitalize on the opportunities.

Furthermore, solid momentum across Amazon Prime is benefiting the company in music streaming market. Per CNBC, Prime members have an access to over 2 million ad-free songs.

Apart from free music service, Amazon recently came up with a new version of its music streaming service based on High Definition (HD) music quality, called Amazon Music HD. The service supports various devices such as desktop, selected Echo devices, Fire TV, Fire Tablets and smartphones based on both iOS and Android.

Currently, Amazon carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Year-to-Date Price Performance

Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (SIRI) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Spotify Technology SA (SPOT) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research