Amazon is getting ready to launch a hi-def music streaming service

Amazon is currently in discussion with various large music rights-holders regarding the upcoming launch of a high fidelity music streaming platform

Amazon is getting ready to launch a hi-def music streaming service

Less than a week after Amazon launched its first fully free music streaming service, according to "Music Business Worldwide" the company is planning to challenge the likes of Spotify.

According to the report, Amazon is currently in discussion with various large music rights-holders regarding the upcoming launch of a high fidelity music streaming platform – and that at least one major record company has already agreed to license it.

It seems that the price of Amazon’s new tier will likely be in the region of $15 per month. It’s expected to launch before the end of 2019.

The service is expected to offer a better bit rate, better than CD quality. The best known existing hi-def music streaming offering comes from TIDAL, whose TIDAL Hi-FI subscription tier costs $19.99 per month and offers CD-quality lossless streams at 44.1 kHz / 16 bit. In addition, TIDAL also offers a ‘Masters’ quality offering for pickier audiophiles, which presents thousands of albums at 96 kHz / 24 bit.

Meanwhile, Deezer offers a HiFi tier at a standard price of $19.99 per month, which, like TIDAL’s equivalent, streams music at 44.1 kHz / 16-bit via FLAC files.

The world’s two biggest music subscription streaming platforms – Spotify and Apple Music – are yet to venture into the world of high fidelity audio.