(Pocket-lint) – Amazon Music Unlimited is Amazon’s music streaming service, competing with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music.
Here’s everything you need to know about Amazon Music Unlimited, including how much it costs, where it’s available, whether it’s ad-free, how it works, and what features it offers.
What is Amazon Music Unlimited?
There are two different types of music streaming services: internet radio-like ones that randomly play music for you based on your preferences such as Pandora in the US, and on-demand ones that let you find and play specific songs, such as Spotify and Apple Music.
Amazon Music Unlimited falls into the latter group, but it comes with a number of different features, including various pricing options that make it stand out from rivals.
It is available to everyone, but there is a price incentive for customers who already subscribe to Amazon Prime.
How much does Amazon Music Unlimited cost?
- £7.99/month or £79/year for Prime members
- £9.99/month for non-Prime members
- £3.99/month Echo subscription
- £14.99/month or £149/year Family plan
- £4.99/month for students
Amazon Music Unlimited is available to Amazon Prime members for £79 per year in the UK or $79 per year in the US. Alternatively you can pay monthly at a cost of £7.99/$7.99.
That makes it cheaper than its two closest rivals, Apple Music and Spotify, which both charge £9.99 per month for their similar services (Spotify of course has a free, ad-supported tier). However, if you don’t have an Amazon Prime subscription, it costs the same – £9.99 a month.
An Amazon Prime subscription costs £79 a year in the UK and $99 in the US but gives you free next-day delivery on millions of items (even same-day on many, depending on your location). You also get access to Amazon Prime Video, Prime Reading and many other incentives.
If you own an Amazon Echo device, you can get the complete Amazon Music Unlimited service for just £3.99 ($3.99) per month to play on a single Echo device – with or without a Prime membership. Amazon has several Echo models, all of which you can compare in our separate feature. There’s also a student plan for £4.99 ($4.99) a month, whether you’re a Prime member or not.
Amazon Music Unlimited also offers a family plan. It allows up to six people to have their own individual account for £14.99/$14.99 a month if you’re not a Prime subscriber, putting it on par with Apple Music’s family plan option and Spotify’s family plan. Prime members can enjoy the annual Family Plan for £149/$149 a year, which represents a two-month discount.
How do you sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited?
Go to the Amazon Music Unlimited website here (for the UK) or here (for the US).
You can first sign up for a 30-day free trial regardless of whether you are a Prime member or not.
You will have to sign up using your Amazon login credentials and authorise Amazon to charge your default card or another card on file after your trial ends. Your subscription renews monthly, but you can cancel the renewal at any time by visiting your Amazon Music settings here (for the UK) or here (for the US).
If you use Echo, simply ask Alexa on your chosen Echo device to start your trial to Amazon Music Unlimited.
Where is Amazon Music Unlimited available?
Amazon Music Unlimited is available in the UK, US, Germany, Austria, Japan, Belguim, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rixa, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Uruguay.
Which devices work with Amazon Music Unlimited?
Amazon Music Unlimited is accessible through the Amazon Music app for Fire, iOS and Android devices, as well as Mac and PC. You can also access it through a web player in your browser and through the company’s Echo devices.
You can play music through a Sonos system or Roku media streamer, as well. Amazon has even made it possible to stream music in select cars inlcuding BMW, Ford, and Mini.
How does Amazon Music Unlimited work?
Ad-free listening
Amazon Music Unlimited is similar to Apple Music and Spotify in that it offers millions of songs you can listen to on-demand, ad-free. It also serves up a recommendations engine based on algorithms and hand-picked playlists, and you can access it via mobile apps and the web.
Ask Alexa
Amazon pushes its Music Unlimited service’s integration with Echo and the Alexa voice assistant. Not only do Echo owners have access to a cheaper version of the service (available on one Echo device at a time), they can request songs using just their voice. They can stream a specific song, artist, album, or playlist, and Alexa can even pull up the “latest song” from an artist or play music based on mood, time, activity, etc.
Alexa can also find songs from snippets of lyrics. Although the discounted Echo plan is limited to only one device (you cannot use it on your phone, PC, tablet, or even more than one Echo device), it offers all the same features, including the full music catalogue and recommendations. If Echo owners don’t get Music Unlimited, Amazon’s Prime Music service is available with a library of two million songs.
Side-by-Side
Amazon Music Unlimited has a unique feature called Side-by-Side. It syncs artists’ commentary with racks from the their catalogues. It includes artists like The Chainsmokers, Jason Aldean, Lindsey Stirling, Norah Jones, OneRepublic and Kongos.
Writing by Maggie Tillman. Editing by Britta O’Boyle.
