Amazon Music has announced subscriber numbers for the first time. The retail giant’s streaming music service now has over 55 million customers worldwide. Those numbers are close to matching Apple Music’s most recent subscriber count of 60 million. However, it still has quite a way to go to catch up with Spotify, which in September announced a paid subscriber base of 113 million customers.
“We’re proud to reach this incredible milestone and are overwhelmed by our customers’ response to Amazon Music,” said Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music. “Our strategy is unique and, like everything we do at Amazon, starts with our customers. We’ve always been focused on expanding the marketplace for music streaming by offering music listener’s unparalleled choice because we know that different listeners have different needs. As we continue to lead in our investment in voice with Alexa, and in high-quality audio with Amazon Music HD, we’re excited to bring our customers and the music industry even more innovation in 2020 and beyond.”
The subscriber totals represent the total number of customers across all of the tiers of service that Amazon offers. The retail giant’s Amazon Music Unlimited tier is the $9.99 a month plan that competes head-to-head with Apple Music and Spotify.
Other tiers include a $3.99 per month Amazon Music Unlimited subscription for users that only want to listen on their Echo devices. Amazon Music for Prime subscribers is included as part of the company’s Prime membership, which also offers the Amazon Prime video service and free 2-day shipping. An ad-sponsored Amazon Music tier is a free plan offering access to top playlists and thousands of music stations is also available, and Amazon HD is a high-definition tier costing $14.99 a month.
Amazon says its streaming service has grown nearly 50% year-on-year in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Japan, and has more than doubled in its newer markets like France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico.