The head of Amazon Video and Music will be leaving the company after a 15 year stint. Bill Carr, a 47-year-old vice president, announced his decision internally Tuesday.It is unclear whether or not a competitor has given him a better offer.
According to the Wall Street Journal Carr has been instrumental in Amazon’s push to compete with Netflix and Hulu in streaming online video, including reaching deals with Viacom and others for exclusive content. He helped oversee the creation of original programming like “Alpha House” and “Betas”. Carr also pioneered the concept of developing a series of television pilots and having Amazon members vote on their favorites to be made into a full series.
The last major project that Carr had a hand in was the unveiling of Prime Music, which is exclusively available to members who pay the annual $99 Prime subscription fee. The service is competing against a number of established players in the market, such as Spotify and Beats Music. Prime Music has a catalog of over one million tracks, contributed from Warner Music Group and Sony Music – as well as from large independent labels.The largest label in the world, Universal has not contributed any material.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
