“When Amazon Music first launched for Prime members, we offered an ad-free catalog of 2 million songs, which was completely unique for music streaming at the time,” said Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music, in a statement about the launch. The Amazon Exclusive podcast series “Baby, this is Keke Palmer,” from the actress and entrepreneur Keke Palmer (NOPE) also debuts today.Īmazon, in announcing the news, acknowledged that Prime Music’s more limited catalog was no longer the big selling point for consumers it once was. Death,” “SmartLess” and “Even the Rich,” and new Amazon Exclusive shows including “MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories ” “Suspect: Vanished in the Snow ” “COLD Season Three: The Search for Sheree ” “Killer Psyche Daily ” “I Hear Fear,” narrated by Academy Award-nominated actress Carey Mulligan and a weekly bonus episode of “The Old Man and the Three,” hosted by former NBA player JJ Redick. Other ad-free shows include the Wondery catalog of podcasts, like “Dr. Amazon Music’s promise of ad-free podcasts along with a full music catalog could make for a compelling alternative, the retail giant hopes.Īmong the ad-free podcasts are shows from top brands like CNN, NPR, The New York Times and ESPN. But Spotify’s paying subscriber base is growing frustrated with the fact that they still have to listen to podcast ads, despite paying for the service. The move is a direct shot at streaming music competitors, especially Spotify, which has been moving into the podcasts market as a means of generating additional revenue. In addition, the Amazon Music app is getting a revamp, which includes a new “Podcast Previews” feature that will allow customers to listen to short clips as a way to discover new podcasts they may like. The company said it will now offer Prime subscribers a full music catalog with 100 million songs, instead of the previously more limited selection of just 2 million songs, and will make most of the top podcasts on its service available without ads. Amazon today announced a new benefit for its Prime members which could lure some subscribers away from other music services, like Apple Music or Spotify.

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