Spotify shares fall on report Amazon in talks to launch ad-supported music offering

(Reuters) - Shares of Spotify Technology SA fell 4 percent on Monday after a report said Amazon.com Inc was in talks to launch a free ad-supported music service, which is expected to intensify competition for the music streaming leader.

Amazon would market the free music service through its voice-activated Echo speakers, a Billboard report said on Friday, adding that it could become available as early as this week.

So far, the e-commerce giant offers its Prime Music service as part of its Amazon Prime subscription service at $119 per year. Amazon Prime also offers free delivery and access to its Prime Video service.

In addition, the company sells Amazon Music Unlimited subscriptions for $9.99 a month, which is available for Prime members at a lower fee of $7.99 per month.

Spotify had 116 million ad-supported users and 96 million paying subscribers as of February 2019. Amazon has said “tens of millions” of paid customers listen to Prime Music and its standalone Amazon Music Unlimited service.

Amazon and Spotify did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Shares of satellite radio company, Sirius XM Holdings, were also down 2 percent at $5.97.