If you buy or own a Google Home or an Amazon Echo speaker, you’re now entitled to some free music. Following on from Google’s YouTube Music announcement on Thursday, Amazon says it too will offer ad-supported access a selection of the company’s music streaming offering.
In a blog post on Thursday, Amazon says Alexa customers in the US will now have access to ‘top Amazon playlists and thousands of stations’ without forking over any cash. Currently, ad-funded music can be played via Alexa voice controls via services like Spotify Free and Pandora, but now Amazon is adding a home grown option.
The option is designed for those Echo owners who don’t yet have an Amazon Prime subscription – which also grants access to a limited library of free music – or a subscription to the paid Amazon Music Unlimited streaming service.
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Those users will be able to call upon Alexa to play a station based on a song, artist, era, and genre, while also summoning some popular playlists like Country Heat, Fuego Latino.
Here’s some examples provided by Amazon in today’s announcement:
“Alexa, play the playlist Pop Culture” to hear the ultimate global playlist for today’s pop music.
“Alexa, play the Imagine Dragons station” to hear a station inspired by the popular rock band.
“Alexa, play 80s music” to hear a station filled with music from the era.
“Alexa, play country music” to hear a station with some of the best in the genre.
The move made by Amazon and Google on Thursday could put pressure on Apple to offer some free music playback for users of the HomePod speaker who don’t yet subscribe to Apple Music. However, we don’t expect the company to shift its stance on this one anytime soon.
There’s no news yet on when Amazon feature will roll out for UK-based Echo users.
Will this news encourage you to buy an Amazon Echo speaker? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
