Amazon Music is shutting down live audio app AMP

Amazon is shutting down its live audio app AMP. Niki Minaj was among the musicians who used the free service to connect with fans using listening parties, live call-ins, and more.

On Thursday morning, the platform was still live, and AMP DJs’ were saying goodbye.

Launched just 18 months ago, AMP allowed anyone with an Amazon account to play live DJ using a library of millions of tracks.

The closure follows similar live audio shutdowns, including Spotify’s initiatives and a pivot by Clubhouse – the app that started the pandemic-driven live audio boom – to a messaging app.

“We’ve made the difficult decision to close Amp. In creating Amp, we tried something that had never been done before and built a product that gave creators a place where they could build genuine connections with each other, and share a common love for music,” an Amazon Music spokesperson said in a statement to The Verge. “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.”

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.