Amazon announces licenses from Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music,
Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and more than 150 independent
distributors, aggregators and music publishers
Coming soon, Roku and Sonos — following the recent addition of
iPhone and iPod Touch, Roku and Sonos will join the list of Cloud Player
compatible devices
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 31, 2012--
(NASDAQ: AMZN) – Amazon.com, Inc. today announced Cloud Player licensing
agreements that bring significant updates to Amazon Cloud Player. The
agreements are with Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music, Universal Music
Group, Warner Music Group, and more than 150 independent distributors,
aggregators and music publishers. Amazon’s scan and match technology
gives customers a fast and easy way to get all of their music from their
computers to the cloud. Cloud Player customers can then enjoy their
music on their favorite devices, including Kindle Fire, iPhone, iPod
Touch, Android devices and any web browser, and soon, Roku streaming
players and Sonos home entertainment systems.
New Cloud Player features include:
-
Amazon MP3 purchases — including music that customers purchased in the
past — are automatically saved to Cloud Player, which means that
customers have a secure backup copy of the music they buy from Amazon,
free of charge.
-
Amazon scans customers’ iTunes and Windows Media Player libraries and
matches the songs on their computers to Amazon’s 20 million song
catalog. All matched songs – even music purchased from iTunes or
ripped from CDs – are instantly made available in Cloud Player and are
upgraded for free to high-quality 256 Kbps audio. Music that customers
have already uploaded to Cloud Player also will be upgraded.
-
Any customer with a Kindle Fire, Android device, iPhone, iPod touch,
or any web browser — and soon, a Roku streaming player or Sonos home
entertainment system — can play their music anywhere.
“We are constantly striving to deliver the best possible customer
experience for Cloud Player, and today we are offering our customers a
significant set of new features, including scan and match technology and
audio quality upgrade,” said Steve Boom, Vice President of Digital Music
at Amazon. “We are happy to have such broad industry support in enabling
these features for customers.”
“Music fans are passionate consumers, so making it as easy as possible
for them to buy music and enjoy it anywhere, anytime and on any device,
is important to us,” stated Rob Wells, President of Global Digital
Business at Universal Music Group. “And Amazon’s new service does just
that by enabling fans to find, discover and experience more music than
ever before. UMG is committed to working with innovative services like
Amazon to provide consumers more choice and to expand the marketplace
even further for digital music.”
“Amazon is an important destination for music fans, and we’re pleased to
see them creating innovative music services that offer fans the ability
to enjoy their music conveniently on all their devices,” said Mark
Piibe, Executive Vice President of Global Business Development for EMI
Music. “Cloud Player makes it easy for users to have their entire music
collection at their fingertips wherever they are, so that they’ll get
even more value from the music they buy, and will form an even deeper
connection with the artists they love.”
“Cloud technology is producing a powerful new generation of
entertainment experiences, making the discovery of new content easier
and offering instant access to music across multiple devices. Amazon’s
locker service has an impressive set of capabilities, which expand the
value of owning music. It will give fans greater flexibility with their
libraries and entice new customers to explore the benefits of a digital
collection,” said Stephen Bryan, Executive Vice President,
Digital Strategy & Business Development, Recorded Music, Warner Music
Group.
“We are excited to be working with Amazon to offer consumers the ability
to enjoy their music anywhere—on any device—with Cloud Player,” said
Dennis Kooker, President, Global Digital Business and U.S. Sales, Sony
Music Entertainment. “Amazon continues to innovate on behalf of music
fans, and we believe our new licensing agreement makes it easier and
more convenient than ever for Amazon customers to access, discover and
ultimately buy more music.”
Cloud Player is available in a Free tier and a Premium tier. Cloud
Player Free customers can store all MP3 music purchased at Amazon, plus
import up to 250 songs from their PC or Mac to Cloud Player, all at no
charge. Cloud Player Premium customers can import and store up to
250,000 songs in Cloud Player for an annual fee of $24.99.
Amazon-purchased MP3s (including all previous purchases) do not count
against the 250 or 250,000-song limits and will be added to both Free
and Premium Cloud Player libraries at no charge. Amazon Cloud Player is
automatically integrated into Kindle Fire and the new Cloud Player
features will be automatically delivered to Kindle Fire users over the
next few days. Customers can also visit www.amazon.com/cloudplayer
or download the app on iOS or Android.
Starting today, Cloud Drive will be used for file storage and Cloud
Player will be used for music storage and playback — each service will
offer separate subscriptions. Customers can still use Cloud Drive to
store any of their files in the cloud and access them from any web
browser or by using the Cloud Drive Desktop Apps. Customers can store up
to 5GB free and storage plan prices have been lowered to start at $10
per year for 20 GB. To learn how to get started on Cloud Drive visit www.amazon.com/clouddrive/learnmore.
About Amazon MP3
The Amazon MP3 Store has more than 20 million songs and offers everyday
low prices on best-selling albums. All Amazon MP3s are DRM-free, work on
virtually any device that plays MP3s, and can be played from Cloud
Player on Kindle Fire, Android phones and tablets, iPhones, iPads,
iPods, Macs and PCs. Customers can also access the Amazon MP3 store via
the iHeartRadio, Shazam, TuneIn Radio and SoundHound Android apps.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com,
Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), aFortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on
the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest
Selection. Amazon.com,
Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers
can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and
endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and
other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items
in categories such as Books; Movies,Music & Games; Digital Downloads;
Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery;
Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools,
Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer
customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on
Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to
enable virtually any type of business. The new latest generation Kindle
is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch,
most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in
bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindlefamily with
an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn
pages, search, shop, and take notes – still with all the benefits of the
most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the
line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle
Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G. Kindle Fire
is the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games
and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud,
Whispersync, Amazon Silk(Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated
web browser), vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core
processor.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, www.amazon.it,
and www.amazon.es.
As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com,
Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly
from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve
risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to
competition, management of growth, new products, services and
technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international
expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center
optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and
strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption,
inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More
information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's
financial results is included in Amazon.com's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most
recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
Source: Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline, 206-266-7180
www.amazon.com/pr
