Walmart is partnering with Spotify to offer the retailer's Walmart+ members free access to Spotify Premium for six months. 

Chris Cracchiolo, senior vice president of Walmart+, said in a corporate blog post that "Walmart+ members have told us they're passionate about their music and entertainment, so today's announcement is just one more way that we're adding value to our Walmart+ membership."

Walmart also announced that it will turn the membership, which includes free shipping on e-commerce items along with other perks, into an employment benefit by giving it free to Walmart's 1.6 million full-time and part-time associates. 

Cracchiolo said that the move "is not only our way to say thank you for all they do, but it's also so associates can use our membership, tell us how it's going and ultimately speak to customers about it from personal experience."

The retailer rolled out Walmart+ in fall 2020, immediately drawing comparisons to Amazon Prime, which combines free delivery with other perks such as video streaming and original content, among many other benefits to keep shoppers loyal to Amazon. 

Along with free shipping, the Walmart+ membership offers access to Walmart's Scan & Go contactless checkout, discounts on prescriptions and fuel, early access to Black Friday deals, and other benefits.  

On a conference call in February after its fourth quarter earnings release, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon declined to disclose the total number of Walmart+ members when asked by an analyst.

"I don't really want to have the company defined by one metric," McMillon said then. "And with subscriptions being such a topic these days, everybody gets really focused on that. Walmart is always going to be a business where you need to look across and see how the omnichannel this is playing out."

The chief executive went on to say that "Walmart+ is important" to the business, driving the company to build out its pickup and delivery capacity. "It helps us deepen the relationship with customers and have more data."