ClaimsJeff Bezos

“We are planning to add music to our product offering, and over time we believe that other products may be prudent investments.”

Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, 1997 letter 1998 2020 Letter to Shareholders (About Amazon)

Promise Economics and markets

Amazon.com plans to add music to its product offering.

Resolved true The record shows it happened or was so.

Promise: Commitments to the person's or organisation's own future action, with something to deliver: was it delivered?

The evidence is the person's or their organisation's own records.

Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.

What would count as true or false

Promise with no stated deadline, judged over the period after the 1998 statement. True: Amazon.com added music (for example music CDs) to the products sold on its site. Mostly true: music was added, but in a form a little different from what was described, for example through a separate affiliated store rather than its main site. Mostly false: Amazon announced or piloted music sales but did not open them to customers broadly for several years. False: dated reports show Amazon dropped the plan and did not sell music.

Set before the research began.

Evidence (3)

  1. E1 Amazon.com Opens Music Store, Provides A Whole New Way To Discover Music Amazon.com, Inc. (press release) · 11 June 1998 Own record

    “The leading online bookseller opened its music store at 1 a.m. today along with a major update of its award-winning Web site.”

  2. E2 0000891020-99-000375.txt U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (Amazon.com, Inc. Form 10-K for fiscal 1998) · March 1999

    “partially due to the opening of the music store in June 1998, the United Kingdom”

  3. E3 Amazon.com Announces Financial Results for Third Quarter 1998 Amazon.com, Inc. (press release) · 28 October 1998 Own record

    “Third-quarter music sales were $14.4 million, the first full quarter following the June launch of Amazon.com's music store.”

Reasoning

Amazon's dated press release says it opened its music store on its website on 1998-06-11 (E1). Amazon's fiscal 1998 Form 10-K, filed with the SEC, refers to the music store opening in June 1998 (E2). Amazon's third-quarter 1998 results report $14.4 million in music sales in the first full quarter after launch, which shows customers were buying music on the site (E3). The promise had no deadline, so on_time is null. All three sources are Amazon's own records, but the 10-K is an official regulatory filing.

Cite this claim

Jeff Bezos, “Amazon.com plans to add music to its product offering.” (said 1998). Verdict: resolved true. Reliability API, claim c_86b35392e470, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_86b35392e470

This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.

Reply to this claim

For Jeff Bezos, or someone speaking for them: a correction or counter-evidence. Replies are read before anything is shown; an approved reply shows your name, role, date, statement and link. Your email address is never shown and is deleted 30 days after the decision (privacy).

More promise claims by Jeff Bezos

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    “At the end of this month, or maybe the first week in November, we’re going to launch our New Glenn vehicle and we’re sending NASA’s Escapade satellite into orbit around Mars.”

    Blue Origin will launch its New Glenn vehicle at the end of October or the first week of November 2025, sending NASA's Escapade satellite into orbit around Mars.

  2. Delivered on time Promise 15 April 2021
    “Amazon is making progress toward our own goal of 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of our initial 2030 target.”

    Amazon aims to reach 100% renewable energy by 2025, five years ahead of its initial 2030 target.

All of them

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