Music lovers, as well as tech enthusiasts, can celebrate as Amazon has introduced its Alexa voice assistant and a slew of its compatible Echo devices to Mexico. As a timely strategy, the e-commerce giant is also launching Amazon Music Unlimited and Prime Music in Mexico, so that users can just ask Alexa to play their favourite tunes from artists like Natalia Lafourcade, Ariana Grande, Reik, Calvin Harris, J Balvin, and Shakira, on locally curated playlists and stations.
“Tens of millions of customers around the world are already using Alexa, and today we’re excited to introduce the service to our customers in Mexico,” Toni Reid, Vice President of Amazon Alexa, said in a statement. “We’ve built an entirely new experience from the ground up that honours Mexican culture, enabling customers to just ask to play their favourite music, get the news and weather, control their smart home, set reminders, enjoy local skills, and more. Plus, in addition to Echo, device makers like Sonos, Bose, and Harman Kardon are also launching devices with Alexa built-in. This experience has been custom-made for Mexico, and we cannot wait to hear what our customers think.”
While shipping will start next week, the Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus, Echo Spot, and Amazon Smart Plug are available for pre-ordering. Individual users can avail Music Unlimited for MXN$99 per month; MXN$990 per year for a Prime member. In addition, a family plan with up to six people is available for MXN$149; again MXN$1,490 per year for Prime members. Users also have an option of spending MXN$39 a month if the intention is to listen on a single device.
“With today’s launch in Mexico, we’re bringing our customers an incredible selection of music, including hand-curated global and local content created for music lovers in Mexico,” Federico Pedersen, Head of Music for Mexico said in a statement. “Soon millions of songs will be paired with a brand-new way of listening to music through voice on Alexa, delivering a host of brand-new ways to ask for music. We can’t wait for customers to begin their listening experience with Amazon Music.”
Although Amazon Alexa already exists in Spanish, since it was launched in Spain last month, the voice assistant is ready to listen and respond in Mexican Spanish. It will also utilize local information to get tasks done.
Mexico is no stranger to high tech listening devices. Apple has been selling its HomePod in Spain and Mexico since last month, and Google released its Google Home and Home Mini in these two countries in June. That makes Amazon the last of the prominent companies to enter the Mexican market.
