AMAZON SIGNALS FURTHER MOVES INTO MUSIC

Here's a big smoke signal that Amazon is immersing itself further into music streaming: The company just hired former iTunes and EMI exec Alex Luke as Global Head of Programming & Content Strategy for its music service.

Luke was most recently at The Valley Fund, a Silicon Valley VC shop, but he spent eight years as Director of Music Programming & Label Relations for iTunes, before being lured away in 2011 to become EVP of A&R by Dan McCarroll, then-President of Capitol & Virgin Label Group.

Amazon launched its own stand-alone streaming service Music Unlimited to directly compete with Spotify and Apple Music last October, after first making the experience available on a limited basis as an added value for its Prime subscribers.

But now there's smart speaker The Echo, which could be a game-changer, since it allows consumers to request songs and playlists by voice command. There's already evidence that the smart speaker has increased engagement with paid music services among consumers who use the device and Amazon is now using The Echo as an up-sell, offering customers an Echo-only tier of its streaming service for a mere $4 a month.

The company has not released any official sales figures, but market researchers estimate more than 5 million have been sold since November.

This momentum only adds to the weight Amazon already carries as a music retailer, offering paid MP3 downloads and long been one of the most dominant music sellers worldwide due to its CD business.