Amazon Reportedly Readying High-Fidelity Music Streaming Service for End of 2019

Amazon might be getting into the high-fidelity realm of music streaming.

According to Music Business Worldwide, who has allegedly heard “whispers” from several music industry sources, Amazon is reportedly in talks to license and offer a new premium music subscription service by the end of 2019 with high-fidelity music.

MBW says that Amazon is “currently in discussion with various large music rights-holders regarding the upcoming launch of a high fidelity music streaming platform” and claims that “at least one major record company” is already on board.

Rumoured to launch by the end of 2019, the service would offer a superior bitrate than many rivals. “It’s a better bit rate, better than CD quality,” said one source. “Amazon is working on it as we speak: they’re currently scoping out how much catalog they can get from everyone and how they’ll ingest it.”

While already competing with market leader Spotify and Apple Music, the latter now the market leader in the United States, Amazon’s new hi-fi service would compete more directly with Tidal and Deezer — the only music streaming services out there to offer high-fidelity music to subscribers.



According to the source, the intention appears to be to offer music at better-than-CD-quality, which means the service leapfrogs Spotify and Apple Music’s limited bitrate offerings. So, while TIDAL and Deezer offer these Hi-Fi quality tiers at $19.99 USD per month, Amazon is reportedly looking to sweep into the market with a $15 monthly fee.

A senior US-based music industry source said: “Think about it: Amazon will have every tier of recorded music covered, from free streaming through to limited catalog via Prime, a full ‘Spotify rival’ in Music Unlimited and a high definition service – in addition to vinyl, CD, merch and more. We haven’t seen anything near what they’re capable of in music yet.”