Spotify is teaming up with Amazon Echo, which is a fancy-looking speaker that is essentially a voice-activated AI device for use with Amazon products and services. Music is one of the primary uses for Amazon Echo, which makes it a great partnership for Spotify. TechCrunch reports that Spotify is now integrated with Amazon Echo , and the Director of Amazon Alexa (the AI for the device), Toni Reid, says playing music has never been easier.
“Now playing your favorite music from Spotify is as easy as asking Alexa. Music is one of the most popular features on Amazon Echo, and Spotify has been one of the most requested services, so we’re excited to bring it to our customers today.”
Thrilled. Spotify on Echo. My biggest complaint about Echo, solved. Thanks @amazonecho and @Spotify . #music #alexa pic.twitter.com/bUB0oIbQTK
— Dana Conti (@danaconti) February 5, 2016
Global Head of Hardware at Spotify, Ian Heller, also spoke about the new integration.
“We’re extremely pleased that Spotify Premium subscribers can now listen to their favorite music on Amazon Echo. Creating innovative experiences is core to our mission. We know our users will love controlling music with their voice at home.”
The service will initially be available only in the US, and as of yet, there has been no discussion of rolling it out in other countries. Regardless, it means more people can easily use Spotify, and this is good for Warner Music and the artists whose music is being streamed, at least now that Warner Music has announced it will share Spotify profits. ReCode reports that Warner Music has said if Spotify ever goes public or is sold, it is willing to share the revenues with the artists whose music is streamed. Steve Cooper, CEO of Warner Music, personally delivered a statement confirming the news.
If Spotify goes public, Warner Music says it will share its equity stake with musicians https://t.co/WsFmhkK1jJ via @pkafka
— Warner Music Group (@warnermusic) February 4, 2016
Warner will pay artists Spotify IPO money when it sells its shares https://t.co/ELVdA2oo5c
— Warner Music Group (@warnermusic) February 4, 2016
Warner Music: ‘We’ll share equity stakes revenue with artists’ | Music Week https://t.co/ist0h3tMXF
— Warner Music Group (@warnermusic) February 4, 2016
“Today, we are confirming that in the event we do receive cash proceeds from the sale of these equity stakes, we will also share this revenue with our artists.”
This might not mean much right now, but it might mean a lot in the future, particularly since Spotify is still the number one streaming service. The Irish Times reports that even though Apple is catching up, Spotify is still the top streaming service in terms of how many paying customers they have. Of course, Spotify has been in the game since 2008.
However, there are a number of artists who do not want their music streamed on Spotify or anywhere else because of the low payment per stream. Neither Taylor Swift nor Adele has their music on Spotify. And despite being the top of the streaming world, Slipped Disc reports the results of a study that shows Spotify doesn’t really have very much of an impact on sales in the music industry.
“…our analysis shows that interactive streaming appears to be revenue-neutral for the recorded music industry.”
According to Mix Mag , Spotify is also partnering with Genius , a Brooklyn-based company that provides and promotes open-source and community explication, to offer a FAQ-style function called Fact Tracks. The product will provide listeners with a summary of each track played, and content can be added by users.
Spotify and Genius announce partnership: Annotated lyrics available in real-time for certain Spotify playlists. https://t.co/WnAplq7OAF
— Josh O’Kane (@joshokane) January 12, 2016
Spotify Announces Partnership with Genius, Introduces ‘Behind The Lyrics’ Playlists https://t.co/GTZ2d2QNgz
— billboardbiz (@billboardbiz) January 12, 2016
According to Billboard , the partnership between Spotify and Genius is great for Genius’ future. Genius’ director of business development and general counsel, Ben Gross, said that it’s a major moment for the company.
“[It’s] a watershed moment. We’ve made practical headway on projects we’ve been talking about for years.”
It seems that Spotify is heading in the right direction and solidifying some important partnerships in order to help them stay ahead of the game in the streaming industry. Maybe they will also entice artists who are not currently on Spotify to stream their music.
[Composite image containing photos by George W. Bailey, endermasali / Shutterstock]
