Amazon is quietly shutting down its reside radio app Amp

Amp, the reside radio app launched by Amazon simply final yr, will quickly be no extra. Bloomberg experiences that Steve Increase, the vp of Amazon Music, despatched a memo asserting the shutdown.

The Amp app nonetheless seems to be obtainable for obtain and continues to be airing reside radio exhibits as of the time of publication. The Verge has reached out to each Amp and Amazon Music for extra particulars on when the service will formally sundown. 

“This determination was not made shortly or simply,” Increase wrote, in keeping with Bloomberg. “It solely turned clear after months of cautious consideration figuring out the investments Amazon desires to make for the long run.”

Amazon’s experiment in reside audio solely lasted a few yr and a half — the app was first launched in March 2022 and appeared to be a competitor to Clubhouse and different reside or social audio providers launched in the course of the pandemic. However in contrast to Clubhouse or Twitter Areas, which allowed anybody to launch a reside chat room on any subject, Amp was geared towards followers of music and speak radio. Any Amp person with an Amazon account might launch a reside present and entry thousands and thousands of licensed songs, which they might compile into playlists and play for his or her followers. Amp customers might “name in” to exhibits and ask hosts questions. 

Amp pulled in musicians, comedians, podcasters, athletes, and different celebrities to host exhibits throughout its top — with the likes of Nicki Minaj, Jason Lee, Draymond Inexperienced of the Golden State Warriors, Joe Budden, Man Raz of How I Constructed This, Pusha T, and others showing for reside applications on the service. However indicators of hassle turned obvious early on. Amazon lower half of Amp’s current workers final yr, amounting to roughly 150 workers. 

Amp’s closure is the newest within the line of reside audio providers shuttering or pivoting after customers have dropped off after the pandemic. Final month, Clubhouse introduced it was reinventing itself as a gaggle messaging app. Spotify additionally shut down its reside audio characteristic earlier this yr.

In response to questions from The Verge, Amazon Music spokesperson Rebecca Silverstein offered the next assertion: “We’ve made the tough determination to shut Amp. In creating Amp, we tried one thing that had by no means been finished earlier than and constructed a product that gave creators a spot the place they might construct real connections with one another, and share a typical love for music. We discovered so much about how reside music communities work together within the course of, which we’re bringing to bear as we construct new fan experiences at scale in Amazon Music.”