Amazon Music Replicates Merch Tables With The Launch of A New Artist Merchandise Integration
Source: Amazon Music
Amazon Music is bringing a new shopping experience to its app.
The music streaming service recently announced a new integration that gives users the ability to purchase merchandise from their favorite artists directly in the app.
Merchandise will appear on artists' Amazon Music profiles alongside their songs, albums, live streams, and music videos. Most merchandise items are available with Prime shipping, allowing users to order and receive items relatively quickly.
Amazon is also experimenting with different ways to surface artist merchandise for users, such as in-app notifications.
“Fashion is an inseparable part of music and culture, and with the addition of merchandise to the Amazon Music app, we’re making it easier for artists to connect with their fans through our app. It’s long been Amazon Music’s mission to strengthen the connection between artists and fans, and today’s launch furthers that goal by uniting streaming audio, music videos, live streams, podcasts, and now merch under one roof for the first time," said Sean McMullan, Amazon Music’s Director of Artist Product and Services, in a press release.
Exclusive Merchandise Releases
Coinciding with the launch, Amazon Music is debuting exclusive merchandise from artists like Selene Gomez, Gwen Stefani, Florida Georgia Line, Wale, and more.
As shared by the streaming service, the current line up of exclusive merchandise is as follows:
Queen Naija is now offering Amazon Music customers a new collection of T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hoodies sporting her crown logo, as well as designs tied to her song “Butterflies Pt. 2” and her recent album Misunderstood.
Pentatonix is offering an exclusive collection of merch celebrating the group’s newest album The Lucky Ones. The selection includes a coffee mug themed to the band’s single “Coffee in Bed,” a “Happy Now” sweatshirt to commemorate the album’s opening track, and a notebook themed to the group’s song, “A Little Space.”
Metallica is offering a set of exclusive throwback T-shirts.
Amazon Music is the exclusive online retail partner for Wale, offering a selection of the rapper’s merchandise, including hoodies, T-shirts, and more tied to his most recent album, Wow... That's Crazy.
Florida Georgia Line has also developed exclusive merch for Amazon Music. Featuring T-shirts, phone cases, totes, and more, the new collection pays tribute to the group’s love of fishing, Florida, and the great outdoors.
Queen is offering a merchandise collection that features designs inspired by the “Queen Crest,” which Freddie Mercury originally designed in 1973 for the band’s debut album.
A Different Approach Than Spotify
While competitor Spotify has an artist merchandise feature, it differs from Amazon Music’s integration. Spotify’s version enables users to purchase merchandise through a third-party company in Merchbar versus the frictionless in-app purchasing Amazon Music offers.
Replicating The MERCH Table EXPERIENCE
With the integration, artists get a fresh new way to engage with fans through the streaming service and an additional revenue stream opportunity.
In a way, the integration replicates the experience of purchasing merchandise at the merch table while attending a live concert. Merchandise has traditionally been a significant revenue driver for touring artists, but with many in-person experiences on hold due to the pandemic, that revenue stream has been missing for the most part.
With live concerts at scale not expected to return for a few months, streaming services and other digital platforms have gotten creative with rolling out new experiences to the benefit of both, artists and fans.
Like what is happening in the retail industry, the pandemic's impact is leading to a lot of innovation that I expect to remain even when things get back to “normal.”
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SOURCE: Amazon Music
