Amazon Music Unlimited Launches With $3.99 Echo-Only Subscription Option

Amazon today launched Amazon Music Unlimited, its new standalone, on-demand streaming service.

Amazon Music Unlimited is distinct from the company's Prime-only music library, which offers access to "over a million songs." By contrast, the new service promises access to "tens of millions" of songs from all the major labels. Prices start at $7.99 per month for Prime members and $9.99 per month for non-members, the latter of which puts it in the same cost bracket as Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music, and Tidal's standard price plans. A similar free 30-day trial is also being offered.

Amazon Music Unlimited
In addition, Amazon is offering a separate $3.99 subscription plan for owners of connected speakers from the company's popular Echo range. The plan lets them stream music to Amazon's devices, but only those devices. A $14.99 per month (or $149 per year) family subscription plan for up to six people is currently in the works, and should become live later this year.

Amazon says its library includes music from Sony, Universal, and Warner, as well as hundreds of indie labels, with thousands of curated playlists and personalized stations also accessible via the company's recently revamped mobile app. However, the service enters a crowded market already commanding millions of subscribers, which makes it increasingly difficult for newcomers to differentiate their service. In this respect, Amazon is likely betting on enticing existing Prime subscribers, and perhaps more significantly, those eligible for its Echo-only option, which could prove popular with a user base already familiar with the company's ecosystem.

alexa family shot copy
For example, the Echo-based service plan integrates with the speaker's intelligent assistant Alexa, meaning voice commands can be used to play particular songs and/or playlists based on specific criteria – to play songs from a particular decade, or to match a mood, say. Indeed, Echo owners can sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited simply by asking Alexa to start their free trial.

Amazon is estimated to have sold over 4 million smart speakers so far, and is hoping to sell 10 million by the end of 2017, which could put it on course for a subscription coup. For its own part, Apple is said to be pressing ahead with plans for its own connected smart home device, powered by Siri, which would rival Echo. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine commented on the future of Apple Music, saying that Apple is "building the right hybrid," which will be "technologically and culturally adept" and "have a voice," rather than just be a utility to listen to music.

Amazon Music Unlimited goes live in the U.S. today and is set to debut in the U.K., Germany, and Austria later this year.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...
Future M5 Chip Devices

M5 Chip Rumored to Debut in These Five Apple Products Later This Year

Friday July 4, 2025 9:14 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation M5 chip is expected to debut in five new products later this year, including the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac. M5 chips will reportedly be manufactured with TSMC's latest third-generation 3nm process, which should result in slight performance and power efficiency improvements over M4 chips fabricated with its second-generation 3nm process. ...

Top Rated Comments

killawat Avatar
114 months ago
How about Prime Video on Apple TV?
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KeanosMagicHat Avatar
114 months ago
Amazon: a day late, and a dollar short. It's kind of sad watching bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Amazon try to become tech companies, and inevitably fail.
Amazon is one of the biggest tech companies in the world.

Their whole company is tech with the main retail business being web and mobile based.

Also one of their most profitable arms is AWS (Amazon Web Services) which is a huge Corporate Outsourcing company for Cloud Computing, Online App Serving and Backup etc.

Not to mention the fact that once they get their drone programme "off the ground" they will no doubt licence that technology / service to other industries.

I do agree with you that Amazon are late to the game with music streaming, however, but it doesn't really matter. With the exception of audiophiles, people will weigh up the content availability versus cost and make a decision on what gives them the best music selection for their buck. They won't really care about loyalty to the "brand", not yet anyway.

There's also no contract model in this industry as yet, so currently people are free to switch monthly as the landscape changes.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maxsix Avatar
114 months ago
Amazon proves once again that big companies _can_ innovate.

Setting a great example for Apple to emulate :D
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannys1 Avatar
114 months ago
To be honest, for the "average" prime subscriber, the included Amazon Prime Music would be more than enough for them. For people really into music, Spotify or Apple Music are still the better options.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robjulo Avatar
114 months ago
You really should do a little more research before weighing in on this. Amazon is hardly a "bookstore".



Amazon: a day late, and a dollar short. It's kind of sad watching bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Amazon try to become tech companies, and inevitably fail.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KeanosMagicHat Avatar
114 months ago
Bit of a slap in the face for all Prime subscribers expecting them to pay more. It's now created a two tier Music offering. (Three tier if you factor in the lower priced Echo customer subscriptions).

Especially UK Prime members who already do not receive all of the additional Kindle benefits etc the US customers receive.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)