Amazon Music adds radio-like DJ Mode plus a Billie Eilish takeover

Amazon Music has launched DJ Mode which adds a host DJ to select hip-hop, country, and pop streams in the US.

At launch, Amazon Music has added a DJ Mode option to three of its top streams – Rap Rotation, Country Heat, and All Hits – with more to follow.

Each DJ Mode station includes song selection and sequencing personalized to the listener’s tastes along with commentary and storytelling that will evolve as new music is released.

“We’re continuing to revolutionize how listeners experience music, and with DJ Mode we’re combining the best of streaming and traditional radio,” said Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music. “With DJ Mode, fans can stream music selected just for them, while enjoying the personality of DJ-hosted radio.

“Alexa, play The Billie Eilish Takeover”

Amazon is promising “music insights from industry experts and tastemakers, and drop-ins from top artists, plus music facts and trivia from Alexa.” Thus far, however, I’ve only heard streams that while algorithmically curated with a few quick artist drop-ins were not dissimilar to the pre-recorded voice-tracked DJs heard on corporate broadcast radio everywhere.

Far more interesting was the new Billie Eilish stream which Amazon says is the first of many artist-driven DJ Mode stations.

Eilish proved the real potential of this new format by sharing her personal musical tastes alongside original stories about her influences, creative process, and more.

The Billie Eilish Takeover comes ahead of her Amazon Prime Day Show, premiering June 17 on Prime Video.

Stations Details

“Alexa, play Rap Rotation in DJ Mode”: Rap Rotation Radio includes hit hip hop tracks hosted by DJ Letty and features “voices from the artists that are moving the culture forward, stories behind the hit songs, and much more.”

·“Alexa, play Country Heat in DJ Mode”: Nashville country music radio host Kelly Sutton hosts Country Heat Radio in DJ Mode, which features Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton, Thomas Rhett and more.

“Alexa, play All Hits in DJ Mode”: Amazon Music’s senior pop music programmer DJ Karen Wild plays the hits takes listeners through the biggest songs in the world with All Hits Radio in DJ Mode. Hear from artists such as The Weeknd, Saweetie, and Bruno Mars, alongside the stories behind the tracks, featuring voices of the artists who created them.

How To Listen

To begin listening to DJ Mode, Prime members and Amazon Music subscribers in the U.S. can opt-in by requesting enabled stations using voice with Alexa; Car Mode, and the Amazon Music app for iOS, Android, and Fire TV.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and serves as a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown which acquired both publications in 2019. He is also the Founder and President of the Skyline Artists Agency and an online professor at the Berklee College Of Music.