Amazon's Streaming Music Service, Cloud Player, Comes To Ford SYNC AppLink
Amazon Cloud Player, the company's online and mobile music streaming service fueled by purchases of MP3′s, uploads and even previously bought CDs, is now going to be available in Ford SYNC AppLink-enabled vehicles.
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon launched Cloud Player for computers and Android in 2011, then added Scan & Match, higher-quality audio and premium accounts in 2012. Its distribution had already expanded to Roku and Samsung smart TVs, making Ford SYNC AppLink another endpoint for a service built around customers’ purchased and uploaded music.
The Ford integration extends that device strategy into the car, where Amazon’s music service becomes part of the in-dash app ecosystem rather than a destination limited to phones, computers and home screens.
First-order effects
- Ford SYNC AppLink vehicle owners can access Amazon Cloud Player through the car interface, giving Amazon another use case for music libraries assembled from MP3 purchases, uploads and imported CDs.
- Ford adds Amazon’s music service to the applications available through SYNC AppLink, broadening the platform’s media offering.
Second-order effects
- Amazon’s music-store customers gain a stronger reason to keep purchases and personal libraries inside Cloud Player, because those collections travel into an additional listening environment.
- Other music services seeking in-car listening must pursue comparable dashboard integrations, while automakers can differentiate connected-car systems by the app catalog they support.
Third-order effects
- The integration points toward music services competing on distribution across screens and vehicles, not solely on the features of a standalone player.
- If car interfaces continue to serve as app platforms, automakers will have greater leverage over which media services reach drivers and how those services are presented.
The trend: Cloud music is evolving from a computer-and-phone product into a cross-device service, with connected-car platforms becoming another distribution gatekeeper.