(Pocket-lint) – Amazon has finally brought its own streaming music service to the UK. It’s a limited service that’s free for Amazon Prime users – members do not need to pay any more to access it.
It doesn’t really take on the likes of Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and Deezer directly – that’s the job of Amazon Music Unlimited which does cost extra per month.
What is Amazon Prime Music?
Prime Music offers more than two million music tracks or albums to stream over the internet or download for offline listening without you having to purchase them outright.
There are curated playlists to listen to, which are put together by the Prime team, or you can simply find tracks or albums. Some are suggested through a “recommended” area that promotes albums based on tracks you might have previously bought from Amazon or listened to recently.
There are also charts of popular songs or albums based on what others are listening to. And there are promoted songs, albums and playlists that are new to the platform for you to try. All Prime Music content can be searched for.
How much does it cost?
Prime Music is an additional benefit for Amazon Prime members. That means the annual £ 79 fee (or £ 7.99 per month) paid by UK members includes unlimited music streaming as well. In the US, the subscription costs $ 139 annually or $ 14.99 per month.
A Prime membership offers unlimited one-day delivery for millions of items, access to all of the streaming movies and TV shows available on Amazon Prime Video, unlimited cloud photo storage through Prime Photos and Prime Music, too, all under a single subscription.
Regardless of Prime delivery or Prime Photos, the annual cost for Prime that includes Music and Amazon Prime Video represents amazing value for money.
While Amazon Prime members can invite other members of their family (up to one extra adult and four children) to share their Prime benefits as part of an Amazon Household, that doesn’t include Prime Music.
What is it available on?
Prime Music is available through any device that has access to an Amazon Music application. That app will also be able to play back any digital music you have bought from Amazon and currently store in the cloud (or downloaded to the device). It also now has a dedicated section for Prime Music content too.
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But where’s the catch?
It does all sound too good to be true and in comparison to services like Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and the rest it sort of is. Prime Music does not offer anywhere near the same amount of content available to stream or download for offline listening and that’s why Amazon Music Unlimited exists: check out our guide to that.
Writing by Rik Henderson and Dan Grabham. Editing by Luke Baker.
