Report: Amazon to launch streaming music service in June/July, but only with 6 month old songs

With Apple having just acquired Beats Electronics, Amazon is apparently preparing to launch its own streaming music service. According to a new report out of BuzzFeed, Amazon has just signed deals with two of the three major labels. Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group have both signed on, while Universal Music is still pondering the deal.

Amazon will bundle its music streaming service into its existing Prime service, which runs $99. Being a Prime member already gets you free two-day shipping, instant video streaming, and a Kindle lending service. Amazon recently increased the price of Prime from $79 to $99, which did upset a few customers.

Where Amazon’s music service will be different from the likes of Spotify, Beats, and Rdio, however, is that it won’t offer access to newer titles. In what is a presumably an effort to lower licensing costs, Amazon will only have access to titles that are 6 months old or older. The company will also supposedly hand-pick most of the music and base what it chooses off of its existing Amazon sales data. The service is reportedly slated to launch in June or July of this year.

Of course, Amazon offering a streaming music is simply another added bonus for Prime subscribers and the lack of new music does seem more appealing when bundled with the instant video, books, and shipping benefits of Prime. Whether or not it will make a dent in Rdio, Spotify, and Beats, however, remains to be seen.