Amazon today announced an expansion of Amazon Music, which is now available almost in full to Amazon Prime subscribers. Amazon is providing Amazon Prime users with access to the full catalog of 100 million Amazon Music songs, up from the original two million songs that were available.
Amazon Prime subscribers are not getting unlimited on-demand access to Amazon Music tracks, but the full catalog is available when using shuffle mode. Songs are ad-free, and users can create playlists that are tailored to personalized listening preferences. Shuffle play is available for any artist, album, or playlist.
The experience will be similar to other services like Pandora that offer radio station-based content rather than in-demand access to all songs. Amazon Prime's new feature will not directly compete with Apple Music because Apple Music does offer on-demand music, but it could cause customers who prefer radio stations and playlists to swap over.
Amazon is not charging Prime subscribers more for the Amazon Music access, and Prime continues to be priced at $14.99 per month or $139 per year.
Along with access to the full Amazon Music catalog, Amazon is offering Prime users access to popular ad-free podcasts and new Amazon Exclusive podcasts, with full information available on Amazon's blog post announcing the changes.
Top Rated Comments
Doubt I'll ever use it, since I curate my own library (stubborn holdover from the era of iPods and iTunes), but I know family members might take advantage, since the Prime account is shared.
This is an objective downgrade.