For music lovers, it matters what platform you use. Amazon Music offers a couple of interesting subscriptions; each has different features, pricing, and even sound quality. While Amazon Music might not be as hot as Spotify or Apple Music, they have some great high-definition listening options in the premium paid subscription and a great basic plan with Amazon Music Free.
What are the different Amazon Music subscription plans?
Amazon Music has several subscription options for enjoying music - and there is one to suit every budget – even if that budget is nothing!
Let’s answer the big question first – is Amazon Music Free really free? Yes. Amazon Music Free is free and available to everyone, even without an Amazon Prime account.
There are three different subscription options with Amazon Music - Amazon Music Free, Amazon Music Prime, and Amazon Music Unlimited (which has three tiers). Each subscription has different features and pricing.
What is the Difference between Amazon Prime Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Amazon Music for Free?
Choosing an Amazon Music subscription that suits your listening style and budget is important. Here is what you need to know about the different features and pricing.
Amazon Music Free
With Amazon Music Free, you can access the best playlists and stations. The trade-off here is that while you can enjoy the music for free, you'll get intermittent ads.
Price: Free (with ads)
Key information: You do not need an Amazon Prime Membership for Amazon Music Free.
However, in order to have access to HD, Ultra HD, or Spatial Audio, you’ll need to upgrade your subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited but, you do have access to stations.
Supported devices include iOS, Android, Fire TV and Tablets, Amazon Music for Web, and some Echo and Alex devices. You can only listen on one device at a time, and there is no offline playback.
Amazon Music
Prime members have access to over 100 million songs (so your favorite song will definitely be there!) Amazon Music has no adverts, so you get an uninterrupted music listening experience. The Amazon Music subscription is included with your Prime membership, so it doesn’t cost you anything extra.
Price: Included with Prime membership (ad-free).
Key information: You need an Amazon Prime subscription to use Amazon Music Prime; you can access stations and the All-Access Playlists (on-demand songs, downloadable songs for offline listening, and unlimited skips).
Amazon Music has no HD, Ultra HD, or Spatial Audio. You can listen to Amazon Music on all supported devices.
However, there are some things to know. When playing in All-Access, Echo devices will only play in shuffle mode; with Fire TV, you can’t access podcasts, only music, and on the Fire Tablet, you have a limited catalog, and the podcasts aren’t ad-free.
Amazon Music Unlimited
The premium Amazon Music experience comes from Amazon Music Unlimited. Amazon Music Unlimited offers an elevated music experience for those who really care about how they listen. You can have an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription without a Prime membership.
What makes it special? Well, it offers an ever-growing catalog of Spatial Audio that has been mastered by Dolby Atmos. This means you can enjoy 360 Reality Audio through the Amazon Music app on iOS, Android, Fire Tablet (OS 6 and above), smart TVs, Fire TV, and other selected devices.
Amazon Music Unlimited has three subscription options: Single-device, Individual Plan, and Family Plan. With the Family Plan, you can listen on six devices; with the Individual Plan, you can listen on a single device at a time; and with the Single-Device Plan, you can only listen on an Echo or Fire TV device.
Price: Single-device is $4.99 monthly, the Individual Plan is $9.99 monthly for Prime members or $10.99 for non-Prime members, and the Family Plan is $16.99. Students can get Amazon Music Unlimited for $5.99 (but you'll need to apply and provide all evidence of being a student).
You can get free Amazon Music Unlimited for 30 days with a trial. If you’re in the UK, you can access a 90-day free Amazon Music Unlimited offer, which is unlocked if you buy an eligible product from Amazon EU Sarl : Amazon Music Unlimited Offer.
Key information: With Amazon Music Unlimited, you can choose any song, album, station, or podcast and listen ad-free. You also get a more personalized experience, with stations and playlists built to your tastes.
With Amazon Music Unlimited, you can enjoy music in SD, HD, Ultra HD, and Spatial Audio (note: Amazon Music Unlimited Single-device plan doesn’t have HD, Ultra HD, or Spatial Audio).
You can listen on all Amazon Music supported devices and selected devices for HD, Ultra HD, and Spatial Audio.
All of the subscriptions offer Live features and podcasts.
| Service | Amazon Free | Amazon Music | Amazon Music Unlimited |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | free | included with Prime membership ($9.99 monthly) | $4.99 (Single Device), $9.99 (Prime members), 10.99 (non-Prime members), 16.99 (Family Plan), $5.99 (Students) |
| Available services | no add-free, no access to HD, Ultra HD, or Spatial Audio | add-free (except podcasts), no access to HD, Ultra HD, or Spatial Audio | fully add-free, SD, HD, Ultra HD, Spatial Audio with Dolby Atoms, 360 Reality Audio |
| Catalogue | Over 100 million | Over 100 million | Over 100 million |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, MacOS, PC, web player, some Echo & Alexa devices | iOS, Android, MacOS, PC, web player, Echo devices (limited) | iOS, Android, MacOS, PC, web player, Echo, Alexa, smart TVs, Fire TV |
Where is Amazon Free available?
No Prime? No problem! With Amazon Music Free, you don’t need an Amazon Prime subscription. There are a couple of ways to enjoy Amazon Music Free; the first is by downloading the Amazon Music app.
You can get the app from the Android app store or Apple App Store on your device. Once you have downloaded the app, open the app up; then, you can either create an account or log in with your Amazon account.
First-time users will be prompted to select some artists they like, followed by some podcast topics.
Once you have made these selections, you will get a curated, personalized music and podcast recommendations playlist. Click ‘Listen Now’ to dive right into your playlist.
You can easily search for your favorite artists and listen to albums using the search function and they will play on shuffle. Try the 'Live' button to find currently streaming artists from around the globe.
Alternatively, you can go to Amazon.com, and you’ll be greeted with a Listen Now button which will launch the web player. Sign in or create an account and follow the instructions to get your curated, personalized soundtrack.
What playlists can you listen to on Amazon Music Free?
You have a choice of loads of playlists, and when you find one you like, click the play button, and you'll see a notification about ads. Dismiss or use the cross, and the first track will start to play.
What are the limits of Amazon Music Free?
The biggest limitation with Amazon Music Free is that you can’t play music on demand, and this isn't ideal for people who want to control their playlists and listening experience.
While this isn’t a limitation, not everyone can deal with listening to adverts every few songs. It is easy enough to upgrade, though, and if you are thinking about upgrading, then use one of the free trials to have your Amazon Music unblocked and get access to the ad-free listening experience.
Is Amazon Music Free Better than Spotify Music Free?
The real question is – which app deserves space on your phone and offers a good listening experience? With both Spotify and Amazon offering free options, which is best? And is it worth switching where you currently listen to music to Amazon Music?
For the song skippers, with Spotify Free, you get six skips an hour, but with Amazon Music Free, you have no skips at all – plus, everything needs to be played on shuffle mode.
Both offer about the same listening quality; if you don’t usually listen to high-fidelity and don't use a high-end pair of headphones, you're not likely to notice. Free streaming options compress the tracks to reduce the data demands – most people won’t be able to tell the difference.
In terms of looks, both interfaces are easy to use and designed with the user in mind. You can navigate and find what you need in the app or web player for both services. Spotify’s web player is slicker, but the Amazon Music Free app is user-friendly and simple for the free account.
Unlike Spotify and Amazon, Apple Music doesn't have any free options unless you make use of their free trials, which is a shame because their interface is smooth and enjoyable to use - but not the best for those on a budget.
And finally, in terms of who boasts the biggest track selection? Spotify comes out swinging; it offers a much larger selection.
The best thing to do is try each of the free options and see what you like best.
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