Amazon Launches Cloud Music Player

Giant cloud service provider Amazon has launched an online music service dubbed Cloud Player, stealing a march on Apple and Google, who are also rumoured to be working on cloud-based music streaming services.

Amazon account holders can now upload thousands of songs to Amazon’s cloud storage – known as Cloud Drive – and play them anywhere they go via its online music streaming system Cloud Player, which can be downloaded for free.

The application supports MP3 as well as AAC music files and operates on both computers and Android mobile devices. Initially, customers are given 5GB of storage space for free – which is equivalent to around 1,000 tracks. However, they can expand their ‘digital locker’ to 20GB when purchasing an MP3 album from the Amazon Store, or pay $1,000 (£625) a year for 1,000GB.

According to Amazon’s VP of music and movies Bill Carr, the online music service is designed to help customers access their music effortlessly, without having to transfer the files to different devices.

Cloud Player beats Apple and Google

Amazon’s venture into the cloud-based streaming business has reportedly overtaken Apple’s and Google’s plans to roll out similar services.

Technology giant Apple is rumoured to be developing the same system for streaming multimedia content via iTunes, since it acquired online music service Lala Media in December 2009. “Apple is developing a data centre in Maiden, North Carolina that we believe could serve as the hub for such a service,” wrote Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster in a research note last year.

As for Google, rumours have spread that the company is testing a music storage system called “locker,” according to a report on BBC News.

Currently, Cloud Player is available only in the US. However, Amazon is expected to expand the service to Europe and beyond.