CMP Gadgets

Tag: streaming

  • Spotify Launches Free Music Service in South Korea

    Spotify’s free music and podcasts service option is now available in South Korea. The audio streaming platform said this on Thursday. It looks to widen its audience base.

    The streaming giant’s freemium business model offers both a free, limited ad-supported service and an unlimited premium subscription service.

    Spotify said that the move will enable them to better connect global audience with Korean music, which includes K-pop.

    Users in South Korea can now sign-up for a free account. They can access Spotify’s playlists, podcasts, and daily mix among others. Additionally, they can choose to upgrade to premium on-demand, ad-free music.

    “Brands who advertise on Spotify’s free tier can deliver their message effectively. Spotify ads capture twice as much attention as social media platforms globally,” the company said.

    Spotify launched in South Korea in 2021. Since then, the average monthly streams of artists from the country on the platform now surpass 5.8 billion streams, Spotify said.

  • Amazon MX Player: New Era of Ad-Supported Streaming

    Amazon has introduced its latest ad-supported video-on-demand service dubbed Amazon MX Player. It is the result of the merger of two OTT streaming services — MX Player and Amazon miniTV. Amazon says its new streaming platform will offer content across genres and languages. The company will continue to invest in original shows and films. Library of shows and films of both platforms will be available to viewers on Amazon’s latest streaming service.

    Amazon announced in a press release that the new video-streaming platform will offer hit shows. These include Aashram, Dharavi Bank, Campus Diaries, Bhaukaal, Raktanchal, Shiksha Mandal, Roohaniyat, and Jamnapaar. It will also feature a collection of Korean, Mandarin and Turkish shows dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and other Indian languages.

    Girish Prabhu, Head of Amazon Advertising India, made the announcement. He said, “Today we are bringing together the vast reach of MX Player. We are combining it with the advertising tech that leverages Amazon’s billions of customer signals. It’s about enabling all brands. This is not limited to those selling on Amazon. They can reach and deliver relevant advertising to a very large and engaged base across India.”

    The first mention of this deal surfaced in 2023. Reports indicated that Amazon entered into talks with the Tencent-backed firm. However, these talks fell through. Inc42 highlighted that this was an all-cash transaction. At the time, it was said that MX Player’s senior management would join Amazon following the completion of this deal.