Free Amazon Music Debut Sinks Spotify Shares

Amazon has launched a free version of its music streaming service supported by ads, according to Reuters. The company has set its sights on competing with rival Spotify, which has about 140 million listeners for its free version. Amazon shares rose about half a percent on the news, while Spotify shares were down around 5 percent.

Amazon’s music streaming service costs $9.99 a month for the free service, and it’s included for Prime customers. Alexa users have had a free version of the service for Echo devices since September.

Spotify is the number-one music streaming service in the world, and it has a free version with ads, or a paid version for $9.99. The company also offers family plans, which includes multiple people on one account, and can be more cost-effective.

Apple’s service has no free version, costs $9.99 a month as well and makes up almost one-fifth of the total streaming market.

Another company also recently launched support for Amazon music: Garmin. Subscribers of Amazon Prime can now listen to music on their sports watches without an additional fee.

“As the first wearable company to offer Amazon Music, we are excited to collaborate with another key music provider to bring even more listening options to customers around the world,” said Garmin Vice President of Global Consumer Sales Dan Bartel. “Music helps keep us moving during our hardest runs and workouts, and with Amazon Music, there are more than 50 million songs to choose from, so you can stay motivated no matter where your training takes you.”

Amazon Music can be loaded onto the Garmin by Amazon Prime subscribers for free. The service is said to be available on the Connect IQ store for customers with a Forerunner 945, Forerunner 645 Music, Garmin Forerunner 245 Music, Vívoactive 3 Music, Fenix 5 Plus series or MARQ series device.

Support for Amazon Music is said to encompass curated playlists, music stations, personal playlists and more. Garmin clients are eligible for a free trial if they haven’t yet tested Amazon Music Unlimited.