Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Digital Music Systems

Amazon Music Unlimited Debuts as low as $4/month

Amazon Music Logo

Amazon today introduced Amazon Music Unlimited, an on-demand music service with voice control offering tens of millions of songs and thousands of hand-curated playlists and personalized stations. The new service will cost $7.99/month or $79/year (which equals $6.58/month) for Prime members or $9.99/month for non-Prime customers. However, Amazon Echo owners (who are Prime members) can access Amazon’s new music service for $4/month per Echo speaker. Remember, these prices are on top of Amazon’s $99/year Prime membership.

Prime members could already stream music included with their AmazonPrime membership. That service is known as Amazon Music (without Unlimited) and will continue to be a free benefit for Prime members. The new Amazon Music Unlimited service expands the available catalog from 2 million to over 10 million songs and over one thousand hand-curated playlists and personalized stations.

Amazon Echo

Echo owners could already use voice commands to play and control music. The new paid service claims to further improve upon Alexa’s natural language ability and uses machine learning to improve recommendations and personalization over time. Although it is unclear if Alexa’s voice improvements will be available to non-unlimited-members that can access the smaller selection of Amazon music. In any case, here are some new ways you might talk to Alexa:

  • Ready to listen to Sia? Just ask, “Alexa, play Sia” and Alexa will create a playlist of Sia’s most popular songs
  • Want to hear the latest hit by Green Day? Just ask, “Alexa, play Green Day’s new song” and Alexa will play their latest single, “Bang Bang”
  • Have words to a song stuck in your head but can’t remember the name of the song? All you have to do is say a few words and Alexa will play the song. For example, just ask, “Alexa, play the song that goes, ‘I was doing just fine before I met you’” and Alexa will play, “Closer” by The Chainsmokers
  • Want to re-live the music from your college days? You can ask Alexa to play hit music from a decade or a specific year or month. Just ask, “Alexa, play the most popular rock from the 90s” and Alexa will take you back in time
  • Feeling down and need a pick-me-up? Just ask, “Alexa play ‘Happy Music’” and Alexa will choose a playlist based on your listening history like “Feel-Good Indie,” “R&B Fun” or “Pop To Make you Feel Better”
  • Want to listen to early catalog from a favorite artist? Just ask, “Alexa, play Van Halen from the 70s” and Alexa will play tracks from the LA rockers’ first couple of albums
  • Having friends over? Just ask, “Alexa, play music for a dinner party” and Alexa will choose a playlist based on your listening history like “Dinner With Friends,” “Cooking With 90s Hip-Hop” or “Indie Dinner Party”
  • Want to be surprised? Just ask, “Alexa, play the Song of the Day” to hear a song picked daily by Amazon Music editors. Song of the Day also features a DJ intro with fun facts about the song and an outro with suggestions for further listening
  • Not sure what to play? Just ask, “Alexa, play music” and Alexa will find something personalized just for you

Amazon Music on Alexa also brings fans and artists closer together with behind-the-scenes artist commentary about their music, called Side-by-Sides. Customers can simply ask, “Alexa, play Side-by-Side with OneRepublic” and Ryan Tedder will play and comment on songs from OneRepublic’s latest album Oh My My. Side-by-Sides are available exclusively on Amazon Music from top artists such as The Chainsmokers, Jason Aldean, Lindsey Stirling, Norah Jones, OneRepublic and Kongos – with more being added all the time.

Amazon is offering an exclusive “for Echo” subscription plan for only $3.99/month, with full access to Amazon Music Unlimited on a single Echo, Echo Dot or Amazon Tap. To start a free trial to the “for Echo” plan, just ask “Alexa, start my Music Unlimited free trial.” If you decide later that you want to enjoy Amazon Music Unlimited on multiple devices, including Fire devices, iOS, Android, Web, PC, Mac, Sonos and more, it’s easy to upgrade to a standard plan for an additional $4.00/month for Prime members ($6.00/month non-Prime customers).

Amazon Music App Screenshot

The Amazon Music app has been redesigned with a beautiful, new interface that emphasizes artist images and album art and puts music discovery and playback front and center. Key features of the app include “Home,” which showcases selections by Amazon Music editors to help customers stay up-to-date on the music they love and what’s trending and popular; “Recommended,” where customers can find personalized music suggestions powered by Amazon’s recommendation technology; and “Now Playing,” where synchronized lyrics make it easy to follow along to your favorite music. The Amazon Music app is available on Fire devices, iOS, Android, Web, PC and Mac.

A new “For Family” subscription plan will be coming this year, allowing up to six family members simultaneous access to Amazon Music Unlimited for $14.99/month or $149/year. Amazon Music Unlimited also will be available for customers in the U.K., Germany and Austria later in 2016.

To learn more about Amazon Music Unlimited or start listening visit www.amazon.com/AmazonMusicUnlimited.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

You May Also Like

New Products

At $249, the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar Plus features 3.1 channels, but is expandable to 5.1 with optional wireless subwoofer and speakers.

HDTV 4K & 8K TV

Amazon introduces top-of-the-line Omni Series Mini-LED QLED 4K TVs in sizes from 55 to 85-inches at affordable price points.

Music

Horns a Plenty: Four jazz vinyl reissues deliver vintage trumpet sounds by Miles Davis, Donald Byrd and Clark Terry in amazing fidelity for a...

Articles

Ditch those headphones. Immersive music sounds best through speakers. Here's how to make that happen in your home.

Amplifiers

Just add in-ceiling speakers to Q Acoustics 300A Ceiling Amplifier to bring streaming music and Amazon Alexa into any room.

Music

New Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround Mixes Expand Sound Of Tom Petty’s 1982 Hit Long After Dark.

Music

Dolby Atmos mix of Flaming Lips classic Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots album on Blu-ray takes earlier surround mix to the next level.

Digital Music Systems

For $1199, the Shanling SM1.3 music streamer comes loaded with features including MQA, DSD512 and up to 32-bit/768kHz hi-res audio.

Advertisement

ecoustics is a hi-fi and music magazine offering product reviews, podcasts, news and advice for aspiring audiophiles, home theater enthusiasts and headphone hipsters. Read more

Copyright © 1999-2024 ecoustics | Disclaimer: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.



SVS Bluesound PSB Speakers NAD Cambridge Audio Q Acoustics Denon Marantz Focal Naim Audio RSL Speakers