Spotify shares fall on report Amazon in talks to launch ad-supported music offering

Shares of Spotify Technology SA fell 4 per cent on April 15, after a report said Amazon.com Inc was in talks to launch a free ad-supported music service, which is expected to intensify competition for the music streaming leader.

Amazon would market the free music service through its voice-activated Echo speakers, a Billboard report said on April 12, adding that it could become available as early as this week.

So far, the e-commerce giant offers its Prime Music service as part of its Amazon Prime subscription service at USD 119 per year. Amazon Prime also offers free delivery and access to its Prime Video service.

In addition, the company sells Amazon Music Unlimited subscriptions for USD 9.99 a month, which is available for Prime members at a lower fee of USD 7.99 per month.

Spotify had 116 million ad-supported users and 96 million paying subscribers as of February 2019. Amazon has said “tens of millions” of paid customers listen to Prime Music and its standalone Amazon Music Unlimited service.

Shares of a satellite radio company, Sirius XM Holdings, were also down 2 per cent at USD 5.97.