Is The Amazon Music Unlimited Price Included With Prime
+44 Podcast With Sideman and Zeze Millz | Ep 3 | Amazon Music
The Amazon Music Unlimited price is separate to your Prime membership, though you can save some cash if you own both in the US and UK. Amazon Music, a smaller service offering just over a million songs ad-free, is the limited music streaming subscription included with your existing Prime membership.
Amazon Music Unlimited Features
Amazon claims over 70 million songs are available on its service and the Music Unlimited home page points you to new releases, popular and recommended music and playlists.
We dont see any immediate gaps in their offering, and our search for more obscure music artists reveals a very good rate of success. After a slow start, the service has expanded its library of music videos too, although we wouldnt call it extensive.
As with Prime Video, Music Unlimited gives you the option of purchasing through its Digital Store, which mirrors the Digital Music section on Amazons website. Amazon scrapped its very useful Music Storage plans back in 2018.
Amazon Music Unlimited wont look or feel alien to anyone whos ever used a streaming service, or even a shopping website.
The dark interface has three main tabs: Home, Podcasts and Library. Your Home page is arranged in horizontal rows which showcase your most frequently played songs, playlists handpicked for you, songs you might like based on what youve been listening to and a range of playlists that relate to certain timely topics such as the Sounds of Summer.
Theres quite a lot going on and quite a lot of content to choose from and there are slight differences between how the desktop and mobile apps prioritise and order recommended content and playlists which can make for a slightly disjointed user experience.
About Amazon Music Hd
Amazon’s just added a new tier/feature made for audiophiles. Amazon Music HD gives Prime Music and Music Unlimited users the ability to pay a little more to upgrade their music to lossless, CD-quality sound.
More than 50 million of Amazon’s songs are available at a HD quality , while Amazon says “millions” of other songs are streaming at Ultra HD .
Amazon Music HD costs $12.99 per month for Prime members or $14.99 per month for non-members. Music Unlimited subscribers can tack it on for just $5 more per month. Amazon is offering a .
Music HD is supported by Amazon’s streaming on desktop and mobile , select Echo devices , Fire TV, and Fire Tablets. Also, third-party devices, including speakers from Sonos, McIntosh and Sennheiser.
And while more sounds nice, I know the question on your mind: do you really need to be spending that extra cash? To find out, we’ve compared both of Amazon’s services and even investigated how they stack up to the Spotify and Apple Music.
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Things You Need To Know About Amazon Music
Derek Lamb
There are a lot of things to like about streaming from . As a must-have for those uploading music, the platform is also harnessing a growing fanbase and providing exciting new features, making it something that shouldnt be overlooked. Offering Amazon Prime, Amazon Music Unlimited, Family Plans and more its undeniable that they are one of the top streaming services available.
Here are 10 things to help you get to know Amazon Music a little better.
What Is Amazon Music
Lets get the basics out of the way, and quickly define Amazon Music for those who have been under a rock .Amazon Music is a digital music streaming service operated by the Amazon company. Launched in 2007, the platform quickly gained traction. Since then, Amazon have expanded their repertoire, added various subscription packages and improved their service. As a company that is used by millions globally, the next step was to conquer music streaming. Knowing the giant that Amazon is, just imagine the many great things that the company incorporates into their streaming service.
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How Much More Does Music Unlimited Cost
Music Unlimited costs an extra $7.99 per month for Prime members.
Without Prime, you’ll spend $9.99 per month for Music Unlimited, though if you only want to use Music Unlimited on an Echo, Echo Dot or Tap speaker, that costs just $3.99 per month.
| Prime Music | |
| $12.99 per month or $99 per year | $9.99 per month |
What Does Music Unlimited Have That Prime Doesn’t
The first major difference between the services is that Prime Music only offers 2 million songs, while Music Unlimited offers “tens of millions” of tracks.
If you love to chat with Alexa, you’ll also prefer Music Unlimited, which allows for a stronger set of voice commands. For example, if a friend told me that Lorde’s latest record is amazing , I could just say “Alexa, play Lorde’s new album,” to hear it. If your needs are less specific, just ask the assistant to play music by an artist to get a playlist of that musician’s most popular tracks.
Music Unlimited also unlocks Alexa’s ability to name the song that’s stuck in your head. If you say “Alexa, play the song that goes, ‘You see what I mean?, USDA certified lean,’” it will recognize the tune as “The Man” by The Killers. You can also ask Alexa to pull up songs from a specific decade, mood or genre.
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Amazon Music Hd Is Now Available As A Free Upgrade
This morning, Apple Music announced that it would be offering HD lossless music next month, for no extra charge. And minutes later, Amazon announced that Music HD will be available to all Amazon Music subscribers for no extra charge. Making the timing a bit suspect, but its a good thing for subscribers.
That means you can get for just $7.99 per month. Which is pretty impressive.
With Amazon Music HD, customers are able to stream more than seven million songs in Ultra HD, which is better than CD quality, with a bit depth of 24 bits and a sample rate up to 192kHz. It has added more than five million songs to its Ultra HD catalog since Amazon Music HD debuted in 2019. And it is continuing to add more.
Amazon Music Unlimited Compatibility
Amazon Music HD Setup Tutorial Best Quality Settings Audiophile Guide
Amazon Music Unlimited is compatible with smartphones and tablets via its Android and iOS apps PCs and Macs via either its web player or desktop app Fire tablets and Fire TVs some in-car entertainment systems Sonos multi-room wireless speakers Bluesound and NAD BluOS devices. Its worth noting that you cant actually access CD-quality music or hi-res tracks in Amazon Music HD through your browser, though. This can only be done through the dedicated desktop and mobile apps, which is no bad thing.
Up to 10 authorised devices can use Amazon Music on one account, although you can only play through one device at a time. Music can be downloaded to play offline on the iOS, Android and Fire tablet platforms.
Amazon Music Unlimited also works on its homegrown Echo and Dot wireless speakers, as does Spotify.
And Amazon has worked to further its services functionality, integration and intelligence with its voice-control assistant. For example, saying Alexa, try Amazon Music Unlimited gets you up and running with the service.
You can ask it to play certain songs, albums or artists or, for example, 80s pop.
You can even search by lyrics say Alexa, play the song with the lyrics hello, is it me youre looking for? and it complies even if it does choose a cover rather than Lionel Richies original. What cover is this? we ask. Zooey Deschanels from the Trolls soundtrack we are told. Like we didn’t know.
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How Much Does Amazon Music Unlimited Cost
When it debuted, Amazon Music Unlimited lacked a free tier, much like Apple Music and Tidal. Not anymore. You can now listen to select ad-supported playlists and thousands of stations via the web, Amazon Music mobile apps, Echo smart speakers, and FireTV devices. Spotify’s free tier, on the other hand, lets you explore the service’s full 60 million-song catalog. That said, some albums only appear on Spotify Free after a two-week delay.
Of course, Music Unlimited also offers the industry-standard $9.99 per month premium plan for its ad-free Individual tier. Note, however, that Amazon Prime subscribers receive a discount that drops the fee to $7.99 per month on top of their $129 per year Prime fees. No, Music Unlimited isn’t included with a Prime membership. Amazon Prime Music is. More on that later.
In addition, Amazon has a $14.99 per month Family Plan that covers six people. This offering rivals Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify, and Tidal’s similar packages. A massive 90-day free trialwhich cut down to 30 days for the Family Planis available for people who want to try before they subscribe. Amazon Music Unlimited’s trial period outclasses rival trial periods, except for the one offered by SiriusXM Internet Radio. That service also boasts a 90-day free period.
How Much Is Amazon Music And Is It Worth It
Amazon Music is probably one of the smaller streaming music services out there . But it is pretty cheap.
For Amazon Prime members, you can get Music for $7.99 per month. If you dont have Prime, itll be $9.99 per month. And you can get a family plan for $14.99. Previously, Amazon Music HD was $5 at $14.99 per month. So if you are a current Amazon Music HD customer, youll be paying $5 less for the same service.
Amazon Music is a pretty good service for streaming music. Though its catalog is not quite the size of Apple Music, YouTube Music or even Spotify. So do keep that in mind before making the switch. Its also likely that Spotify will be right behind Apple Music and Amazon Music in releasing lossless audio for the same price that it currently charges customers. So dont switch streaming services right away.
If you are an Amazon Music subscriber in the US, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Italy and Spain, you can upgrade to Amazon Music HD for free.
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The Price Change Undercuts Competing High
Amazon’s high-fidelity streaming service, , is now available to Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no extra cost, the company tells Billboard. Amazon Music HD previously cost $14.99 a month while Amazon Music Unlimited, its most popular service option, is $9.99 a month .
The move is a first in the music industry, where high-fidelity streaming options routinely cost $19.99 a month before Amazon Music HD arrived in September 2019, forcing competitors like Deezer and Qobuz to lower the price of their high-fidelity plans to $14.99. . Now Amazon is leading the way once again, effectively cutting the price of high-fidelity music in half within two years.
It’s something we’ve all we’ve been wanting to do for a long time, says Amazon Music vp Steve Boom. When we launched, we already broke the mold by taking a service that had been $19.99 — and really just for the audiophile at that price point — and brought it down to something that was much more mass-market at $14.99.
Amazon Music Hd: What Do You Need
Amazon Music HD is compatible with iOS and Android devices, Sonos and Bluesound speakers, among many other devices
An iOS or Android device running the Amazon Music app, or any device that can access Amazon’s website. For streaming Amazon recommends, “A steady internet connection of at least 1.5-2Mbps for CD-quality streaming and 5-10Mbps for Hi-res.” That’s not too arduous in London, at least.
You can also download tunes for listening offline but it’s worth noting that CD-quality tracks are 4 to 5 times bigger than the equivalent MP3 and the UHD tunes are at least 10x larger.
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What Is Amazon Music Hd
Amazon Music HD is a music streaming service from Amazon. But things can get confusing because it isnt the only music streaming service Amazon offers.
Theres also Amazon Music Prime, which brings Amazon Prime members free music streaming of more than two million songs.
If thats not enough, you can subscribe to this is an extra payment, even if youre a Prime member. Think of this as music streaming lite. With a membership, you can access more than 70 million tracks, listen to them ad-free, and download them for offline use.
Then theres Amazon Music HD. Think of this as a premium add-on to Amazon Music Unlimited, which brings you all the benefits of a music streaming service, along with CD-quality audio and many Ultra HD audio files.
that from now on, its high-quality streaming tier is going to be available to all Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers without an accompanying price hike.
Amazons announcement came on the same day as Apples. The brand announced a slew of upgrades to its Apple Music streaming service, including Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos and the ability to listen to over 75 million tracks in Lossless Audio.
This means both Apple Music and Amazon Music might soon be the only music streaming services to offer hi-res audio as a standard and at no extra cost to subscribers to their current music streaming offerings. This will give them both a leg up over the competition, like Tidal and Deezer, which charge a premium for similar quality.
Amazon Music Unlimited Cost: Family Plan
If you’re looking to kit the whole family out with the latest tunes, the family plan may be better suited. This plan on Amazon Music Unlimited costs $14.99 / £14.99 / AU$17.99 a month, and offers up to six accounts for unlimited use by your family. Again, that price is comparable to Spotify and Apple Music’s own offering.
Even if just one more person is going to be using your Amazon Music Unlimited account, that price makes a family plan worth it. You’re paying an extra $5 / £5 for the full six-accounts, which makes it cost-effective whether you use all of them or not.
Plus, you can still upgrade to Amazon Music HD for just a little bit extra each month, which adds plenty of value over other premium music streaming services.
Try an Amazon Music Unlimited family plan free for 30 days | US | UK | AU
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Who Is Music Unlimited Best For
If you’re a Prime subscriber, especially if you’ve got Alexa-enabled devices, you should seriously consider Music Unlimited. Not only will you save $2 per month over Spotify Unlimited or Apple Music, but you’ll be using a service that’s made for the speakers you’ve peppered your home with.
Also, one last note: if you know the difference between Garth Brooks and Chris Gaines, Amazon Music Unlimited is definitely right for you. That’s because it’s the only service that streams all 16 of the country western superstar’s studio albums.
How Does Amazon Music Pay Artists
Amazon Music HD / Ultra HD Music Review
Amazon pays artists $00.00402 per stream. You would need at least 366,169 streams to earn a monthly living wage in the US from Amazon streams. Artists are paid performance and mechanical royalties from their respective collection society. Payments are usually made quarterly.
You can find out how much youve earned from your streams with our streaming royalty calculator! Try it out its entirely free.
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Amazon Music Hd: Verdict
With 90 days free, what’s to lose?
With the maximum standard price for music streaming being the £10 that Spotify charges, Amazon is taking a bit of a punt here. Yes, £12 to £15 is cheaper than Tidal’s £20 but all you ever hear about Tidal is how it’s struggling financially. It may turn out that the public just can’t be bothered to pay more for higher quality streaming. Most people, it’s worth remembering, use the earbuds that came with their phones, or their phone’s speaker, and listen to music via YouTube.
Conclusion: most people are complete idiots.
However, if you are not a complete idiot, I urge you to give Amazon Music HD a try. It deserves to succeed.
Please note: I’ve held off giving a star rating for Amazon Music HD for now, as we have yet to try it for long enough to assess how it streams outside of my house, and as noted I haven’t really been able to listen properly to the UHD content. On what I’ve heard so far, for the price, it’s a nailed-on certainty for 5-star glory.
Amazon Music Unlimited Mobile Apps
Amazon Music Unlimited has both an Android app and an iOS app. We tested the Android version on our smartphone and discovered that it closely duplicated the Music Unlimited desktop experience. The app contains copious playlists, useful recommendations, and a music store for making purchases. It contains lyrics, too.
In addition, you can use Amazon’s Alexa tech to search for songs by lyrics or to play tracks and playlists. For example, when we asked Alexa for dinner music, it supplied a laid back, easy listening playlist.
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Exploring A Great New Way To Stream High
In danger of being trapped under the growing pile of headphones on my desk.
How did I earn the nickname “headphone guy” here at Crutchfield? Through extensive training, research, and good old-fashioned hands-on experience. I’ve spent thousands of hours listening to different models, and thousands more writing about them. My other areas of expertise include voice control, streaming audio and video, and power protection.
My love of headphones started back when I was in elementary school, and my parents gave me a Walkman. I still love the intimate, wonderfully detailed sound you can get from the right headphone setup.
I spent the first eight years of my Crutchfield career in our customer support department. Listening to thousands of customer stories gave me real-world insights into what makes people happy.
About Jeff
- Started at Crutchfield in 2006
- Completed our thorough in-house Advisor training, learning the details of every type of product we sell
- Attends dozens of vendor training events each year
- Travels to industry events like CanJam NYC and the Capital AudioFest
- Interviewed some of the headphone industry’s most accomplished engineers and product designers
Jeff’s passion for headphones and his commitment to hands-on experience exemplify Crutchfield’s mission to exceed our customers’ expectations by providing an abundance of helpful information.