Joe Budden Launches Live Radio Show on Amazon’s Amp Platform

Joe Budden is launching a live radio show called ‘Music Lovers Only with Joe Budden’ on Amazon Amp.

Amp is a live radio platform and a new offering from Amazon. ‘Music Lovers Only’ will see Budden playing the music he loves while talking about how those songs fit into hip-hop culture at large. He’ll also feature guests and take calls from listeners.

Joe Budden spoke with Variety briefly about how the new live radio show will differ from his popular podcast. “On ‘The Joe Budden Podcast’ we talk about music. On ‘Music Loves Only,’ while they’ll be some talking, we really focus on music – playing joints. To be frank, I’ve waited a lot of years for the right opportunity to be able to highlight music in this way.”

“I’ll be talking about music and all things related to music culture; we really want to focus on the sound of music. Not just R&B and rap, but all genres where you can vibe out and have a good time, Budden adds. “I think how we focus and react to music on ‘Music Lovers Only’ will be completely different.”

Joe Budden says the Amazon Amp live radio platform allows him to curate music in a new way.

“Amp has fill licenses for this music. It’s been difficult to play music without the proper licenses until now,” Budden adds about the challenges of creating this type of show. “There are times I wish I could play 10, 15, 20 songs on the podcast, but that’s not what the audience is there for. On ‘Music Lovers Only,’ we’re going to jam out.”

Joe Budden dropped his Spotify exclusivity from his podcast in 2020, just two years after signing the deal. In #375 of ‘The Joe Budden Podcast,’ the retired rapper said Spotify “never cared about this podcast individually. Spotify only cared about our contribution to the platform.” Some other creators have since agreed with Budden, seemingly dropping exclusivity deals with the platform.