In a change of pace from recent years, Apple continues to push its services with the launch of Apple Music on Amazon Fire TV, according to a report from CNBC.
The service, which debuted on Wednesday (March 13), shows Apple’s commitment to its music offering and the desire to get it out to as many people as possible. Late last year, the company also launched Apple Music on Amazon Echo speakers.
The new lean into services was especially apparent at CES 2019, when Apple said it was bringing iTunes to Samsung smart TVs.
Apple was also briefly connected with Google Home units, but it was never activated. The potential Google Home option could possibly entice some to make the move to Apple Music, especially those who don’t want to purchase a costlier HomePod speaker, which retails for between $299 and $349. The Google Home Mini is significantly less expensive at $50.
Fire TV customers can now ask Alexa to play songs from Apple Music instead of other services like Spotify or Amazon Music, which are already supported. To activate the service, users can go into their Alexa app and activate the Apple Music skill, which also requires an Apple account.
Earlier this week, Amazon announced it is expanding a program that rewards developers for creating top apps for Alexa. The Alexa Developer Rewards program will be available in Spain, Italy and France, in a push to give users in those countries access to high-quality content from Alexa-enabled devices. The initiative, which started in 2017 in the United States, later expanded to European countries like Germany and the U.K., as well as Japan and India.
The categories eligible for rewards include education and reference, food and drink, games, trivia, kids and lifestyle, among others. As Amazon aims to incentivize app creation, the main monetization avenues for app makers are currently in-skill purchases or one-time purchases, as well as sales of goods.
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