Oct 13, 2020

Play Music While Streaming with Amazon and Twitch's New Partnership!

A massive array of artists and celebrities have flocked to the constantly-growing streaming platform Twitch, and as weeks go by, more artists are discovering the potential of this site. Not only artists, but companies too are noticing its potential, with one of the first being the world's largest online retailer! As of September 1, Amazon has brought Twitch's live streams to its Amazon Music application, intending to allow fans and artists to connect amid the COVID-19 pandemic, where in-person concerts have been canceled.

Since the pandemic's health crisis has shut down live events, online platforms have stepped in to fill that hole. Twitch, particularly, has caught the eye of many musicians and creatives. Streams on Twitch are more interactive than more passive viewing options, with fans donating in virtual tip jars and interacting directly with musicians through Twitch’s chat feature. Twitch viewership has been way up since the pandemic started. Viewership grew to 5 billion hours watched between April and June, and the service expects to top 40 million U.S. users by 2021. Therefore, it is no wonder that other entertainment companies, such as Spotify or Amazon, have taken an interest in Twitch.

Credits: Twitch — With this new partnership, streamers can now play a wide array of Amazon Music's catalogue while live streaming.

How It Works

First, a Twitch account would is necessary. Afterward, people would connect their Twitch channel by clicking 'Profile & Tools' in Amazon Music for Artists. After doing that, the live streams would appear on the artist profile page in the Amazon Music mobile app. This application alerts fans and followers anytime the linked channel goes live. Artists may also be included on a new 'Live'' page inside the app that highlights artists who are currently broadcasting. Nevertheless, there are still some limitations to the server; it seems to be a lack of a way for audiences to interact through the Amazon Music app. Fans will seemingly still have to head over to Twitch to chat or leave tips.

Fans have been able to begin interacting with artists across genres:

Amazon Music UK streamed the Heavy music Awards 2020 live from London, featuring performances from Coldbones, Heart of a Coward, The Hunna, and Wargasm.
On September 4th, two members of The Killers joined Amazon Music to answer fans' questions about their latest album.
Capital One City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage Anywhere has been streaming exclusive digital performances every Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ET, spanning Latin, world, hip-hop, jazz, and more for its weekly concert series.
On Tuesday, September 22nd, the Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and producer PJ Morton (keyboardist in Maroon 5), featured his latest solo LP 'PAUL'.

Blowback from the Biz

Not everyone is happy with Twitch's approach to streaming music on its platform. The nonprofit Artist Right Alliance accused Jeff Bezos of 'willful blindness' regarding Twitch's song royalties. In testimony during a House Antitrust Subcommittee hearing on July 29th, Bezos was asked whether or not Twitch allowed users to stream unlicensed music, to which Bezos responded that he did not know and would investigate.

His response outraged many artists who condemned Bezos' approach to the issue and asked him to explain what Amazon and Twitch are doing to implement a program under which they will pay royalties to songwriters and musicians. According to the ARA, Twitch is not properly licensing music from artists while showing 'unwillingness' to make changes.

Despite the blowback, the update also brings positive changes for many. This update will not only give artists on the popular live-streaming platform Twitch new access to Amazon Music's 55 million users worldwide but also allow those users to toggle easily between an artist's live stream and recorded music catalog. This is a huge opportunity for the first artists to take advantage of this partnership since it is unknown what changes will be made due to criticism.

Interested artists and creatives can visit artists.amazonmusic.com/live for more information about this new feature, including step-by-step instructions for connecting their Twitch channel to the Amazon Music app.