Brief:

• Amazon Music and Twitch have partnered to let musical artists livestream performances in the Amazon Music app for iOS and Android devices. The integration between the two Amazon-owned platforms gives Amazon Music's more than 55 million customers a way to switch back and forth from live performances and recorded music, according to an announcement.
• More than 1,000 recording artists have connected their Amazon Music accounts to Twitch for the launch, Ryan Redington, director of Amazon Music, said in the announcement. Amazon set up a microsite for artists who want to learn more about linking their Amazon Music accounts to their Twitch channels.
• Amazon Music is highlighting the livestreaming feature on its Twitch channel with a lineup of performances and live interviews that let viewers ask questions through Twitch's chat feature. Amazon Music will stream concerts from Capital One City Parks Foundation's SummerStage Anywhere series every Tuesday, among other live programming.

Insight:

Amazon Music's integration with Twitch may give mobile marketers more opportunities to participate in the sponsorship of live performances, while helping to boost engagement with the streaming app. Amazon Music sells ad inserts as part of a test program that gives marketers a way to reach audiences on smartphones, Echo smart speakers and other devices integrated with its Alexa virtual assistant. It's not clear how many of Amazon Music's 55 million users listen to its ad-supported tier, which is available for free, compared with listeners to ad-free Amazon Music Prime and Amazon Music Unlimited.

For Amazon, the integration between Amazon Music and Twitch can help to cross-promote the platforms to different groups of users. Twitch's roots are in the gaming community that tends to consist of teens and young adults, though Amazon has made an effort to expand Twitch's programming into other areas like live sports that recently restarted after a pause during the pandemic's early days.

For musical artists, the combination of Amazon Music and Twitch can help to connect with fans and earn additional money while the public health crisis prevents people from gathering at live concerts and music festivals. Twitch has a variety of monetization programs for streamers, including paid subscriptions, advertising and tips from viewers who purchase the app's Bits virtual currency. Those sources of income may help to offset the loss of live performances, while creating more incentive to livestream performances on Twitch.

Twitch's audience was forecast to grow by 14% to 37.5 million people in the U.S. this year, researcher eMarketer estimated in February, but the pandemic boosted viewership among people who were stuck at home during lockdowns. Twitch continues to evolve as an advertising channel for brands seeking to reach audiences that tend to be elusive to other media channels like linear TV. The livestreaming platform's growing popularity has lured brands such as Verizon, which last month began sponsoring a video game tournament series that's exclusive to Twitch.