Amazon Music, a streaming service song of the American tech giant, announced today (1) a significant change. Prime subscribers will now have access to 100 million songs in the catalog, without commercial breaks. Previously they were limited to just 2 million, with advertising in between.
With the change, Amazon signals a direct attack on the main competitor in the segment: Spotify. Since many people are already subscribed to the Prime service (whether for free shipping in the virtual store, Prime Gaming or Prime Video), the expectation is that they will stop paying the rival to enjoy Prime Music, which is already included in it. package.
According to company data compiled by the consulting firm Business of App, Spotify is the most popular platform in the segment (33.3% of the market). the Amazon Music is the third place (13.7%), in a fierce dispute with the Apple Music (17.8%), former leader.
The question then is: with these changes in the app from Amazon, is it possible to abandon Spotify and invest in a Prime subscription? Below are some comparisons so that you can make the best decision.
Challenge to Spotify
For starters, Amazon Music won’t be completely free for the Prime subscriber just yet. To listen to a record, for example, it will still have to do it in random mode. The same goes for playlists. It is a similar tactic to the free version of Spotify. The advantage is that, unlike Spotify, it won’t hear ads.
In case the person wants to release all the features of Amazon Music, they need to pay for the Unlimited version. In addition to the R $ 14.90 for Prime membership, you have to pay an additional R $ 16.90 per month.
But the main question for anyone looking for a music streaming service is, will I be able to listen to the artists and songs I want? In that sense, the expansion on Amazon Prime Music to 100 million tracks is really significant.
By way of comparison, Spotify itself, which once had a more modest catalog but has gradually expanded it on its path to market leadership, today reports that it has more than 80 million songs available.
That is, you will hardly miss a classic or a hit of the moment because you can’t find it.
What about the podcast options?
Spotify already has some renowned exclusive podcasts, even in Brazil, such as the journalistic “Café da Manhã”, in collaboration with Folha de S.Paulo, and the talk show “Mano a Mano”, hosted by rapper Mano Brown.
In that category, Amazon Music is still eating dust. It also has some exclusive national productions, such as the talk show “Amazon Music News” and the musical “Rediscover”, but there are some problems.
First, they are few. Secondly, precisely because Amazon Music isn’t the size of Spotify, they don’t resonate so much as to be worth a subscription. Third, the few exclusive podcasts in Portuguese have a limited number of recent episodes, or they get very few episodes (the “Amazon Music News”, for example, is biweekly).
The reformulation announced today focuses heavily on this format, but the appeal is much greater for the foreign market: Prime subscribers will receive full access to the catalog of Wondery, a producer acquired by Amazon, with hits such as “Dr. Death” and “Dirty John. “(both inspired TV series). But, of course, they are all in English.
For those who speak the language, the proposal can be beneficial. Some productions, previously distributed on several channels, will become an Amazon Music exclusive, such as the true-crime podcast “MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories”.
How is the navigability?
Amazon has a poor track record on the interface of its streaming products. Prime Video has always seemed confused, not very intuitive, not knowing how to simplify the user’s life or present the news in the catalog. After much criticism from the public, it received a slight overhaul just this year, but it still falls short of rival Netflix.
The good news is that, in general, Amazon Music and Spotify are very similar in this respect, both in the web and mobile version.
The bad thing is that Amazon Music is a little less “clean” and convenient, as well as with a seemingly slower loading. In the web version, Spotify has some advantages, such as a fixed menu on the left, which centralizes the browsing options. On Amazon Music, it’s at the top, with fewer options.
Something particularly irritating about Amazon Music (and this also happens on Prime Video) is that when you search, the platform gives suggestions on how to complete the term you are typing. Spotify goes straight to the point: it gives you options for songs, podcasts, playlists, and artists that start with the same lyrics.
And now … is it worth changing?
Ultimately, the expansion of Amazon Music benefits for Prime subscribers makes streaming quite attractive. As usual, Amazon takes advantage of the colossal size of a company that operates on multiple fronts.
Spotify Premium has several subscription plans, ranging from R $ 19.90 per month for the individual offer to R $ 34.90 per month for the family offer (which supports up to 6 accounts). For those who like to listen to music, it’s worth signing up so you don’t have to deal with advertisements, download songs and listen to them when you’re offline, and select specific songs from albums and playlists.
However, for more casual and less selective listeners, just having a Prime membership makes the Amazon app a great option.
It is worth mentioning that, before making any decisions, you can test both platforms for free.
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