Steve Boom

Amazon Music, led by Boom, has become one of the industry’s top streaming services thanks to consistent leadership, brand-specific tie-ins and a willingness to invest in new sectors like podcasting and livestreaming. Thanks to its ongoing partnership with Amazon subsidiary Twitch, Amazon Music has quickly embraced livestreaming, incorporating the tool directly into its mobile apps and streaming global events with acts including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, and Kanye West and Drake over the past 12 months. Amazon Music also acquired the podcast studio Wondery in late 2020 and spent the past year establishing a foothold in the podcast market, winning several awards in the process. “In the inaugural Ambies Awards — think of them as the Grammys for podcasting — Wondery/Amazon Music won six, the most of anyone, including podcast of the year,” Boom says. “So really changing the definition of what people do inside of the music service, I think, is our biggest accomplishment.” The division has also enhanced its music service for both creators and listeners, launching in-app merchandise integration for artists to be able to sell directly to fans and rolling out highdefinition streaming for all of its Music Unlimited listeners, after cutting its HD tier fee from $15 per month to $10. “For us, it’s the evolution of Amazon Music and what it means to be a music service and becoming a much richer, more immersive, fan-forward experience,” Boom says. “I feel like we’ve become the go-to place for livestreaming, which, for me, is about as immersive and fan-forward as you can get.”

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