Amazon has hired former Apple and EMI Music executive Alex Luke as the new head of programming and content strategy for Amazon Music.
Luke most recently served at The Valley Fund, a Silicon Valley VC shop. Prior to that he spent two years as EVP of A&R at EMI, joining from Apple in 2011, where he was director of music programming and label relations.
His appointment marks the latest move in Amazon’s bid to take on the giants of the streaming world, after it was confirmed yesterday that the retail giant had also hired BBC Introducing head Jason Carter, who leaves the organisation after 20 years.
Amazon rolled out its Music Unlimited streaming service in the UK towards the end of 2016, as it looks to go head-to-head with the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal in the streaming market, boasting a catalogue of over 40 million songs and, most interestingly, a flexible price point.
While Apple Music and Tidal have looked to exclusive releases and content to chip away at Spotify’s market dominance, neither have been able to break away from the industry-standard £9.99 per month subscription fee. With Amazon Music Unlimited, Amazon Prime members will be able to sign up to the service for just £7.99 per month, while those content with listening to music in the home can enjoy the service through an Amazon Echo speaker for just £3.99 per month.
Another key feature of Amazon Music Unlimited is Alexa – its voice control function that allows customer with an Echo speaker to control everything from song selection, volume control, playlists and a whole host more by simply talking to the speaker.
