On Wednesday, Amazon announced the end of its live streaming audio service Amp. According to Bloomberg, the service was launched in May 2022 as a competitor for chat apps like Clubhouse and Twitter’s Spaces feature (both of which have also since shut down), while CNBC reports the decision was made in the wake of a “sweeping review” of Amazon’s expenses by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy. Per Business Insider, Amp had failed to meet internal goals for months.
Is Nicki Minaj’s Queen Radio Canceled Due To Amp’s End?
Amp, which operated a bit like its competitors but allowed users to play licensed music and take “callers” while on the air, thus encouraging a “radio show” style format, had hip-hop stars like Big Boi, Joe Budden, Nicki Minaj, and Pusha T as part of its launch and their shows and events were expected to draw plenty of users. However, that is clearly not how it turned out. As an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement, “We’ve made the difficult decision to close Amp. We learned a lot about how live music communities interact in the process, which we are bringing to bear as we build new fan experiences at scale in Amazon Music.”
As far as what happens to those shows now that Amp is shuttering, that remains to be seen. Amazon Music currently hosts its own exclusive podcasts, so it’s possible that it’ll fold shows like Queen Radio into its existing lineup and simply stream them from that platform instead. Like Spotify, which also shuttered its own Clubhouse clone earlier this year, Amazon has been increasing its focus on traditional podcasts, so if the Amp shows can be suitably revamped to fit the format, it’s entirely possible that Queen Radio will return in some form before long.