Amazon insists it's not competing with Apple Music

Despite today entering the UK's music streaming space with Prime Music, Amazon has insisted it's not looking to compete with the likes of Apple Music and Spotify.

Instead, the retail giant turned service provider has claimed it is looking to further enhance the overall experience of existing Prime customers.

Amazon Prime Music brings streamable access of 1 million songs to new and existing Prime customers. By contrast, both Apple Music and Spotify each have a truly exhaustive collection of more than 30 million tracks.

"We don't see ourselves as in competition with [Spotify and Apple Music], we see ourselves targeting a different group of customers," Paul Firth, Amazon UK's Head of Music, said speaking with Digital Spy.

He added: "For many people, you'd be paying £120 a year for tens of millions of tracks you'll never listen to, and yet Prime Music could be ideal for you. By launching this service, we think we are broadening the appeal of music streaming.

"We wanted to build something that we could add to Prime for free. With a million tracks, there's a lot of music in there that customers will enjoy."

Firth's comments were echoed by Steve Bernstein, European Director of Amazon Digital Music, who despite recognising the more than coincidental timing of the UK Amazon Prime Music launch, insists that the service is not looking to duke it out with the industry's biggest players.

"There is a lot of stuff going on in streaming and digital music now so it's quite an interesting time to launch a service like this," Bernstein told us. 

"Some people might say, 'Hey, isn't it kind of crowded, other people launching, one prominent service launched really recently', but we have a bit of a different take on this.

"If you look at services like Apple Music or Spotify that charge £120 a year, they really have to go head-to-head. It's pretty unlikely, at least in my opinion, that someone is going to subscribe to both, at least at the same time.

"We don't have to compete against them, and we're not actually trying to. We are giving Prime customers access to 1 million songs, for free, included with a Prime membership."