Amazon Music users can now listen to playlists that have been crafted by popular artists and bands.
Amazon revealed the addition to its Amazon Music platform with a debut song collection curated by Katy Perry. The move is just one part of Amazon’s recent efforts to better compete with other music-streaming services, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora.
Amazon is widely considered to be among the top three streaming platforms, though its exact subscriber count remains elusive. Part of that is due to Amazon’s broad range of services, with Amazon Prime Music serving potentially more than a hundred million takers.
Perry’s Handpicked tracks all have two things in common: they’re personally enjoyed by Perry, and they center around a “Moving On” theme, which Perry also chose. Moreover, only one of the 20 included songs (“Never Really Over”) is performed by Perry herself. The collection’s 19 other works come from a variety of other performers, including Blink-182 (“Dammit”), Justin Timberlake (“Cry Me a River”), and Taylor Swift (“Begin Again”).
Songs from The All-American Rejects, Britney Spears, and Ariana Grande also appear.
And yes, Perry’s inclusion of a Taylor Swift song is irrefutable proof that the two have buried the hatchet once and for all. With this in mind, Perry’s recent Instagram post, which claimed that she and Swift have made peace, seems pretty accurate.
Perry also recorded a 30-second introduction for her Handpicked collection, which is available exclusively on Amazon Music. Amazon has indicated that other artists’ Handpicked albums will be featured on Amazon Music in the near future, though no release dates or musicians have yet been specified.
Perry’s playlist release coincided with the first day of summer, perhaps in an effort to help listeners “move on” to the new season.