Have you ever dreamed of being a radio show host or DJ? Maybe you never found the time to follow your ambition or feared you wouldn’t make the cut.
Amazon’s new app, Amp, will enable you to create a live show that sounds like a real radio station, using only your phone. Here’s what you need to know.
What Is Amp?
Amp is a free app from Amazon which you can use to create live shows. Whether you’re an amateur or a professional, your phone and the app are all it takes. Amp enables anybody with something to say, and a passion for music, to create their own radio show and broadcast it to the world using their phone.
Listeners can also call into the show and interact with the creator live, just as if they were calling a live radio station.
How It Works
According to an Amazon Q&A, the app includes everything you need to easily set up a show and go live. As a creator, you can curate playlists for your listeners, host guests, and talk about a range of topics. You can create a show that sounds like an FM radio station, using only your phone.
Amp creators will have access to a fully licensed catalog of millions of songs, so you won’t have to worry about copyright issues.
Amazon says you can go from launching the app to creating a new show in seconds.
How to Try Amp
Amp is currently in beta. It is only available to a limited number of iOS users in the US. It is not yet available on Android or desktop computers. For the time being, Android users can access some archived Amp shows (like Nicki Minaj’s Queen Radio) on Amazon Music.
To get the limited-access, beta version, of the app, you need an access code. Download Amp from the US iOS App Store. This will give you an access code and put you on the waitlist. To use Amp, you must have an Amazon account, which you can create for free.
You can get hold of an access code by subscribing to the Amp Newsletter. You might also get one by following Amp’s Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok accounts, where Amazon will regularly share codes.
How Will Amp Affect Traditional Radio and Podcasting?
Podcasts have made it so that you don’t need to get a job at a radio station to reach an audience anymore. Podcasts are the new radio and Spotify is the dominant Podcasting platform.
Amazon’s Amp has added value to podcasting. It’s launching with shows hosted by Nicki Minaj, Pusha, and popular radio hosts like Zach Sang and Guy Raz, amongst others. This star-studded line-up will see Amp rapidly attract listeners and creators alike to the platform.
Will Amp Be a Success?
It will be interesting to see whether Amazon can successfully disrupt the radio and podcasting industries. Will it be able to eat into Spotify’s podcast dominance, while pulling away listeners from FM stations?
It’s still early days, so it is hard to predict. Amazon’s success may all depend on how its competitors respond.
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