Amazon to shut live audio service 'Amp'

Amazon has announced to shut down its live audio service -- Amp. Amp lets users to conduct their own live programme, where callers can join and request to speak, reports CNBC.

"We've made the difficult decision to close Amp. We learned a lot about how live music communities interact in the process, which we are bringing to bear as we build new fan experiences at scale in Amazon Music," an Amazon spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The service debuted in March 2022, amid a frenzy surrounding the audio-only social app Clubhouse and as firms like Meta, Spotify, and X (formerly Twitter), put out live audio features.

Amazon has signed up big-name artists like Nicki Minaj, Lil Yachty, and Pusha T to host their own Amp shows, according to the report.

The move to shut down the service comes at a time when Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has undertaken a sweeping review of the company's expenses in response to slowing sales and an economic downturn.

In April, Amazon shut down its UK-based online bookstore 'Book Depository', which it acquired in 2011.

According to 'The Guardian', this comes after Amazon announced it had decided to 'eliminate' a number of positions across its Devices and Books businesses.
Stuart Felton and Andrew Crawford, former Amazon employees, founded Book Depository in 2004 with the mantra of selling 'less of more' rather than 'more of less'.