Wall Street Journal claims Amazon pursuing free streaming service, company denies reports

It looked like another big name was looking to enter the music streaming market, at least if you take The Wall Street Journal's word for it. The paper reported on Thursday that Amazon was developing a free media streaming service, but the web retail giant denied the claims.

"We have a video advertising business that currently offers programs like First Episode Free and ads associated with movie and game trailers, and we're often experimenting with new things, but we have no plans to offer a free streaming media service," the company said in a statement.

Still, that statement didn't come until Thursday evening, more than 12 hours after the Journal's claims had hit the streets/web. So if anyone is intrigued by the idea of a free Amazon streaming product, you can hope.

Amazon already has a fee-based media streaming service, so it's not out of question for them to pursue a free service, with income generated by advertising, following in the Spotify model (as the Journal reports). The company's current video streaming service, which is available to Amazon Prime members as part of its $99 annual fee.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the new service would be revealed in several months, citing information from "people close to the company." The paper is either incorrect or Amazon is trying to hide the announcement away for later, but the company has certainly been putting emphasis on streaming as of late. Amazon has invited members os the media to attend an April 2 event in New York City where analysts predict it will formally unveil plans for a device similar to Roku or Apple TV for streaming video.

The Wall Street Journal was awfully confident in its reporting however. An Amazon spokesperson denied the free streaming claims, a quote that the paper published in its story.

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