Amazon Music Unlimited is Amazon's music streaming service, competing with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music. The HD version no longer costs extra and is included in the main subscription.

Here's everything you need to know about Amazon Music Unlimited, including how much it costs, where it's available, whether it's ad-free, how it works, and what features it offers.

What is Amazon Music Unlimited?

Amazon Music Unlimited is an on-demand music streaming platform that works in a similar way to Spotify, Tidal and Apple Music. It offers access to a massive library of over 100 million songs and podcasts, as well as the ability to add your own music. Much like its rivals, it gives allows you to access thousands of curated playlists and radio stations to help with music discovery. It is available to everyone, but there is a price incentive for customers who already subscribe to Amazon Prime.

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Amazon Music Unlimited

How much does Amazon Music Unlimited cost?

  • Individual: $10.99 / £10.99 ($8.99 for Prime members)
  • Family: $15.99 / £16.99
  • Student: $5.99 / £5.99
  • Single Device: $4.99 / £4.99

Amazon Music Unlimited is available to Amazon Prime members for a monthly cost of $8.99. That makes it cheaper than its two closest rivals, Apple Music and Spotify. However, if you don't have an Amazon Prime subscription, the price is $10.99 a month. (An Amazon Prime subscription costs $14.99 in the US but gives you free next-day delivery on millions of items (even same-day on many, depending on your location). You also get access to Amazon Prime Video, Prime Reading and many other incentives.)

As we mentioned above, Amazon Music HD no longer costs extra and is included in the main subscription. Amazon Music HD offers more than 100 million HD songs, with a bit depth of 16 bits and a sample rate of 44.1kHz (akin to CD quality). In addition, you can stream millions of songs in Ultra HD (yes, it really has decided to use that name, but it means lossless audio so better than CD quality) up to 24 bits/192kHz.

If you own an Amazon Echo device, you can get the complete Amazon Music Unlimited service for just $4.99 a month to play on a single Echo device - with or without a Prime membership. Amazon has several Echo models, all of which you can compare in our separate feature. There's also a student plan for $5.99 a month, whether you're a Prime member or not. Amazon Music Unlimited also offers a family plan. It allows up to six people to have their own individual account for $15.99 a month, putting it on par with Apple Music's family plan option and Spotify's family plan.

In some regions there is a free, ad-supported tier.

What quality is Amazon Music Unlimited?

Amazon offers a range of different quality options and one of the advantages of Music Unlimited is that it includes access to Ultra HD, including spatial audio tracks. That includes Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio and there are plenty of tracks to listen to in those formats. You'll need to have hardware to support it, either through a streaming device, smartphone or PC and the results you get will depend on that hardware too.

To get a little more detailed, HD tracks are 16-bit, 44.1kHz and stream with an average 850kbps bitrate. Ultra HD tracks are 24-bit with sample rates from 44.1kHz to 192kHz and average bitrates of 3730kbps. This means that Amazon Music Unlimited has the potential to stream really high-quality music.

How do you sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited?

Go to the Amazon Music Unlimited website here (for the US) or here (for the UK). You can first sign up for a 30-day free trial regardless of whether you are a Prime member or not. You will have to sign up using your Amazon login credentials and authorise Amazon to charge your default card or another card on file after your trial ends. Your subscription renews monthly, but you can cancel the renewal at any time by visiting your Amazon Music settings. If you use Echo, simply ask Alexa on your chosen Echo device to start your trial of Amazon Music Unlimited.

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Amazon

Where is Amazon Music Unlimited available?

Amazon Music Unlimited is available in the UK, US, Germany, Canada, France, Austria, Italy, Spain, Japan, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Brazil.

Which devices work with Amazon Music Unlimited?

Amazon Music Unlimited is accessible through the Amazon Music app for Fire, iOS and Android devices, as well as Mac and PC. You can also access it through a web player in your browser and through the company's Echo devices. You can play music through a Sonos system or Roku media streamer, as well. Amazon has even made it possible to stream music in select cars including BMW, Ford, and Mini.

Within the app you'll be able to choose the quality of the music you listen to, including being able to select spatial audio tracks.