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Article talks about Apple Music and Spotify - but I think they're is a bigger problem: Amazon Prime Music. Bezos is killing the streaming space with 'good enou

Article talks about Apple Music and Spotify - but I think they're is a bigger problem: Amazon Prime Music. Bezos is killing the streaming space with 'good enough' services all bundled into the same, basic Prime subscription. The Prime Music app on iOS got updated last year and it even looks great. Streaming music is a commodity, good luck fighting for scraps.

charlesdm 10y ago
So is video. Netflix shareholders haven't realised that yet though, so they're still buying more shares at 350 times annual earnings.
- fooey 10y ago
  Netflix has been pivoting away from being just a video streaming service for a while, that's why they've been working so hard on their original content.
  - throwaway91111 10y ago
    Yup. Today the main reason to pay for Netflix is the content, lack of ads, and universal device support.
ra1n85 10y ago
Use Amazon Prime, but they'll need to deliver a bigger catalog and better recommendation feature for me to try Prime Music. I have hundreds of songs saved in Spotify playlists, love the selection, as well as the recommendation feature (Discover) - Spotify is sticky for me.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  Totally. I pay the $15/month for Spotify family (up to six people); I have Amazon Prime and I've never once used a Prime digital service.
  - Cyph0n 10y ago
    Prime Video is very good by the way. Their original series catalog is expanding, but they also have other great shows available. For instance, you can stream lots of popular HBO classics for free (Curb, The Wire, etc.). Oh, and the video player is excellent. The "X-Ray" feature is pretty nifty when it's done well: it lists on-screen actors, name of music playing, and general trivia. The Prime Video Android app is surprisingly smooth as well, and in my opinion is as good as the Netflix app. For me, it's essentially a free video service, as I already need Prime for the free shipping.
    - ascagnel_ 10y ago
      My problem with Prime Video is that Amazon is that there's no good way to watch it on your TV, unless you feel like buying their own streaming boxes. They refuse to release an app for Apple TV or Android TV, the Roku channel is merely serviceable (like all Roku channels), and the PS4 and Xbox One apps don't work as expected (for example, the Xbox One app doesn't respond to the official hardware remote's play/puase button). The experience on their own hardware is great; everything else is second-class.
- marpstar 10y ago
  Same goes for Prime Video. Almost nothing I like to watch, though some HBO shows are (were?) available as part of Prime for awhile, which was nice. Beyond that, I find their catalog to be quite lacking in comparison to HBO Now and Netflix.
  - stuckagain 10y ago
    The entire HBO back catalog is free on Prime. Prime has a somewhat limited selection but Amazon Instant Video in general is excellent. If you think of it as pay per view you'll be a lot happier. I for one do not mind shelling out a few bucks for a movie.
    - throwaway91111 10y ago
      IMHO it's way more worth it to just get an HBO subscription; the quality there is much, much higher, and you can play it on many platforms. Certainly more than amazon video....
dubin 10y ago
And the Echo is for many people the perfect and most convenient way to listen to music in the home.
- wagecuck 10y ago
  The perfect way to listen and be listened to!
pgrote 10y ago
I just received my pandora one subscription renewal notice and it is due on Sunday. I've thought about it and the only reason I would stay with Pandora is that I have trained it to play music I like. When I turn on my station, I know I'll hear music I want to work to. With that said ... Today was the first time I've listened to pandora in close to a month. I've been listening to playlists through Prime Music .. the free version. I listen through our echos, my phone and my desktop. I haven't missed the tailored station I've built through Pandora over 10+ years. I think you are correct with "good enough." Oh, and the Pandora Premium doesn't sound like much of a game changer unless I missed a killer feature: http://blog.pandora.com/us/coming-soon-pandora-premium/ http://blog.pandora.com/us/coming-soon-pandora-premium/
pducks32 10y ago
Amazon is killing it. Bezos works there just like hundreds of other talented and hardworking people.
nickdavidhaynes 10y ago
Others have made similar points, but I think it bears repeating - Prime is (currently) a clearly inferior offering for music and video. In both cases, their selection isn't even close to their competitors and the UI/UX are so completely fucked that they're unusable a good percentage of the times I try to access them. I agree that streaming media is becoming a commodity. If Amazon made modern apps and shelled out some cash for better libraries, they could deal serious blows to Spotify and Netflix.
- barney54 10y ago
  I agree about music, but completely disagree about video. We watch Amazon Video 10 to 1 compared to Netflix. Amazon's selection works for us.
  - dublinben 10y ago
    I think it's a significant dark pattern how they include paid rentals in the interface for Prime video. If you're already a paying streaming customer, why should you be presented with videos you don't have access to, unless you pay even more?
- ghaff 10y ago
  >Prime is (currently) a clearly inferior offering for music and video Yes, but for a very casual streaming music listener like myself who also has a pretty big music library on iTunes, free (with Prime) + Echo makes paying for any other music streaming service just not worth it. I'll take my free streaming and buy a song or album every now and then with the savings. Amazon is somewhat inferior to Netflix in streaming. I have both in this case. But there are Amazon exclusives as well plus again, for many people, what's available with Prime is good enough to not make it worth paying for Netflix.
matwood 10y ago
I have tried to use the Prime music service in the past, and the catalog was always terrible. Maybe I'll check again.
- massysett 10y ago
  The way to use it is for preprogrammed playlists. If you want some Christmas music or jazz music or classical for the background, they've got something, with no commercials. Or you might use the playlist to discover a thing or two. It's worthless for finding a specific piece of music on demand. I would never pay for Prime Music on its own but it's a nice throw-in. I can also see why it would be good to have with an Amazon Echo.
  - matwood 10y ago
    Yeah, I already have Google Music and have looked at Prime music as a replacement so I could save the $8/month.
throwaway91111 10y ago
iTunes has match and local music; Spotify allows playing local music. What is the amazon story for combining previously owned music with streaming music?
weavie 10y ago
I'd say a bigger one is Youtube. You'd be hard pressed to find a track that isn't an Youtube. In addition there are plenty of live sets and DJ mixes. I don't find the ads too intrusive. It works well enough.
- kalleboo 10y ago
  Whenever I'm at a party and people are putting on their own music... it's YouTube

charlesdm 10y ago

So is video. Netflix shareholders haven't realised that yet though, so they're still buying more shares at 350 times annual earnings.

fooey 10y ago
Netflix has been pivoting away from being just a video streaming service for a while, that's why they've been working so hard on their original content.
- throwaway91111 10y ago
  Yup. Today the main reason to pay for Netflix is the content, lack of ads, and universal device support.

ra1n85 10y ago

Use Amazon Prime, but they'll need to deliver a bigger catalog and better recommendation feature for me to try Prime Music. I have hundreds of songs saved in Spotify playlists, love the selection, as well as the recommendation feature (Discover) - Spotify is sticky for me.

toomuchtodo 10y ago
Totally. I pay the $15/month for Spotify family (up to six people); I have Amazon Prime and I've never once used a Prime digital service.
- Cyph0n 10y ago
  Prime Video is very good by the way. Their original series catalog is expanding, but they also have other great shows available. For instance, you can stream lots of popular HBO classics for free (Curb, The Wire, etc.). Oh, and the video player is excellent. The "X-Ray" feature is pretty nifty when it's done well: it lists on-screen actors, name of music playing, and general trivia. The Prime Video Android app is surprisingly smooth as well, and in my opinion is as good as the Netflix app. For me, it's essentially a free video service, as I already need Prime for the free shipping.
  - ascagnel_ 10y ago
    My problem with Prime Video is that Amazon is that there's no good way to watch it on your TV, unless you feel like buying their own streaming boxes. They refuse to release an app for Apple TV or Android TV, the Roku channel is merely serviceable (like all Roku channels), and the PS4 and Xbox One apps don't work as expected (for example, the Xbox One app doesn't respond to the official hardware remote's play/puase button). The experience on their own hardware is great; everything else is second-class.
marpstar 10y ago
Same goes for Prime Video. Almost nothing I like to watch, though some HBO shows are (were?) available as part of Prime for awhile, which was nice. Beyond that, I find their catalog to be quite lacking in comparison to HBO Now and Netflix.
- stuckagain 10y ago
  The entire HBO back catalog is free on Prime. Prime has a somewhat limited selection but Amazon Instant Video in general is excellent. If you think of it as pay per view you'll be a lot happier. I for one do not mind shelling out a few bucks for a movie.
  - throwaway91111 10y ago
    IMHO it's way more worth it to just get an HBO subscription; the quality there is much, much higher, and you can play it on many platforms. Certainly more than amazon video....

dubin 10y ago

And the Echo is for many people the perfect and most convenient way to listen to music in the home.

wagecuck 10y ago
The perfect way to listen and be listened to!

pgrote 10y ago

I just received my pandora one subscription renewal notice and it is due on Sunday. I've thought about it and the only reason I would stay with Pandora is that I have trained it to play music I like. When I turn on my station, I know I'll hear music I want to work to. With that said ... Today was the first time I've listened to pandora in close to a month. I've been listening to playlists through Prime Music .. the free version. I listen through our echos, my phone and my desktop. I haven't missed the tailored station I've built through Pandora over 10+ years. I think you are correct with "good enough." Oh, and the Pandora Premium doesn't sound like much of a game changer unless I missed a killer feature: http://blog.pandora.com/us/coming-soon-pandora-premium/ http://blog.pandora.com/us/coming-soon-pandora-premium/

pducks32 10y ago

Amazon is killing it. Bezos works there just like hundreds of other talented and hardworking people.

nickdavidhaynes 10y ago

Others have made similar points, but I think it bears repeating - Prime is (currently) a clearly inferior offering for music and video. In both cases, their selection isn't even close to their competitors and the UI/UX are so completely fucked that they're unusable a good percentage of the times I try to access them. I agree that streaming media is becoming a commodity. If Amazon made modern apps and shelled out some cash for better libraries, they could deal serious blows to Spotify and Netflix.

barney54 10y ago
I agree about music, but completely disagree about video. We watch Amazon Video 10 to 1 compared to Netflix. Amazon's selection works for us.
- dublinben 10y ago
  I think it's a significant dark pattern how they include paid rentals in the interface for Prime video. If you're already a paying streaming customer, why should you be presented with videos you don't have access to, unless you pay even more?
ghaff 10y ago
>Prime is (currently) a clearly inferior offering for music and video Yes, but for a very casual streaming music listener like myself who also has a pretty big music library on iTunes, free (with Prime) + Echo makes paying for any other music streaming service just not worth it. I'll take my free streaming and buy a song or album every now and then with the savings. Amazon is somewhat inferior to Netflix in streaming. I have both in this case. But there are Amazon exclusives as well plus again, for many people, what's available with Prime is good enough to not make it worth paying for Netflix.

matwood 10y ago

I have tried to use the Prime music service in the past, and the catalog was always terrible. Maybe I'll check again.

massysett 10y ago
The way to use it is for preprogrammed playlists. If you want some Christmas music or jazz music or classical for the background, they've got something, with no commercials. Or you might use the playlist to discover a thing or two. It's worthless for finding a specific piece of music on demand. I would never pay for Prime Music on its own but it's a nice throw-in. I can also see why it would be good to have with an Amazon Echo.
- matwood 10y ago
  Yeah, I already have Google Music and have looked at Prime music as a replacement so I could save the $8/month.

throwaway91111 10y ago

iTunes has match and local music; Spotify allows playing local music. What is the amazon story for combining previously owned music with streaming music?

weavie 10y ago

I'd say a bigger one is Youtube. You'd be hard pressed to find a track that isn't an Youtube. In addition there are plenty of live sets and DJ mixes. I don't find the ads too intrusive. It works well enough.

kalleboo 10y ago
Whenever I'm at a party and people are putting on their own music... it's YouTube