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If you’re in need of a streaming music service and already have a Prime subscription, Amazon Music Prime offers more than 100 million songs from Amazon’s music catalog—no extra subscription required. The service is a good place to stream music and podcasts, but it doesn’t offer on-demand listening. Amazon Music Prime is clearly a stepping stone to the more robust (and paid) Amazon Music Unlimited, which offers on-demand functionality, stations, and hi-res and audio, earning it an Editors’ Choice award.
(Credit: Amazon/PCMag)
How Much Does Amazon Music Prime Cost?Amazon Music Prime, a service that’s included with a $139-per-year Amazon Prime subscription, gives you a sample of what Amazon Music Unlimited offers. The services are similar in many aspects. The Home section displays a list of podcasts, playlists, and streaming audio stations curated by Amazon. If you’ve listened to Amazon Music before, this section contains a compact list of trending songs or podcasts, and algorithmic suggestions. Next to Home is the Library section, a place that highlights your recent listens, created playlists, and previously uploaded songs.
As with many other streaming music services, Amazon Music Prime has a search bar that lets you look up music and podcasts by artist/creator name, song/show title, or genre. Selecting songs reveals Amazon Music Prime’s biggest flaw: extremely limited on-demand listening. You no longer have the musical autonomy to stream any song on demand, which radically changes how and why you might use the service. A recent update adds an All Access Playlist, limiting you to a single 50-track playlist to serve as your only on-demand listening option. Outside of that, Amazon Music Prime focuses on shuffled tracks, akin to a free Pandora or Spotify account.Amazon Music Prime vs. Amazon Music UnlimitedBoth Music Prime and Music Unlimited offer more than 100 million tracks and ad-free listening experiences on several platforms, but they differ in a few ways. Amazon Music Prime is bundled in your $139-per-year Prime subscription; Amazon Music Unlimited is a standalone streaming music service with on-demand listening and a varied price scheme. Music Unlimited also includes hi-res audio, which Music Prime don’t have access to.
Amazon Music Prime is a decent option if you just want the music basics. That said, you’re stuck with shuffle-mode playlists and must sign up for the $10.99-per-month Amazon Music Unlimited to hear what you want on demand ($9.99 for Prime subscribers). Subscribing to Amazon Music Unlimited replaces Amazon Music Prime as your Amazon jukebox, so you needn’t worry about launching the wrong streaming service. Keep your eyes open for Prime Day promotions if you’re considering upgrading to Music Unlimited. New subscribers get the 90-day trial period extended by an extra 30 days, giving you four months for free during this limited window. For new members, this is a sweet deal.Amazon also offers a free music tier, Amazon Music Free, that doesn’t require a Prime or Music Unlimited subscription. With it, you can listen to select, ad-supported playlists and thousands of stations via the web, Amazon Music mobile apps, Echo smart speakers, and FireTV devices. Some of the playlists include Country Heat and Rap Rotation. You cannot play music on demand with this free option, either.How Does Amazon Music Prime Sound?Music Prime is stocked with thousands of themed playlists and stations assembled by the rather pretentiously named Amazon’s Music Experts collective. We found interesting collections, such as One Hit Wonders, Classical for Reading, and the oddly named 50 Great Epic Classic Rock Songs. It even offers a limited selection of video game soundtracks. Each playlist displays a track listing, the total runtime, and its curator. When you find a track or playlist that you like, you can quickly add the music to Your Music Library (a section where your favorite tracks live) by clicking Add to Library.If you’re looking for LiveOne-like channel building to expand your musical horizons, you’re out of luck. Amazon Music Prime lets you stream playlists and select singles and albums, but you cannot construct a station around, say, a hot George Clinton track as you can with Amazon Music Unlimited.In testing, audio sounded crisp through a pair of midrange Audio-Technica headphones. It certainly not up to the same lossless level as you get with Tidal, but most people won’t have an issue with the sound quality. The streams carry a 256Kbps bit rate. Amazon offers HD audio and higher bit-rate music, but that’s for Music Unlimited customers only.Music Prime, like Music Unlimited, is relatively straightforward when compared with other streaming services. You don’t get Tidal’s in-depth feature stories and concert tickets or SiriusXM Internet Radio’s live radio. Music Prime could do more in an era when streaming music services are attempting to stand out in a crowded field. You can no longer download and listen to music offline, either, and there’s a six-track skip limit.
(Credit: Amazon/PCMag)
Alexa CompatibilityOn the upside, Amazon Music Prime is compatible with the Amazon Echo family of smart speakers, Fire TVs, and Fire tablets. Using Alexa voice control, we commanded our Echo to fire up The Jets’ Greatest Hits, and it began shuffling similar artists, including Kool & The Gang and The Cover Girls. Not a bad musical selection at all, but not exactly what we asked for. You can use Alexa to search for songs by lyrics, look for playlists, and find songs that match your mood. It’s really cool to command Alexa to play up-tempo, happy music and have the Echo blast the “Pop To Make You Feel Better” playlist. If your Amazon device has a screen, you’ll enjoy an additional benefit: lyrics.PodcastsDon’t expect much non-audio content from Amazon Prime Music. There are a handful of comedy specials (in audio form), but no video or music editorial. That said, Amazon Music Prime offers a robust podcast catalog.Amazon Prime subscribers who love Questlove Supreme, Serial, or This American Life no longer need to venture elsewhere for those shows. Even better, Amazon Music Prime features exclusive, original podcasts hosted by notable celebrities, such as Becky G, DJ Khaled, and Jada Pinkett Smith. It’s Amazon Music Prime’s first step toward becoming more than just music and comedy, an important move in a highly competitive entertainment category.Amazon’s AI DJ, MaestroMaestro is an AI playlist generator currently in beta that’s available to Amazon Music Prime and Unlimited subscribers. To launch it, select Maestro when creating a playlist, then enter a prompt. You can use text or emoji for playlist ideas.We tested it with a variety of silly text prompts and emojis and were given an eclectic selection of tracks. When using various cactus and desert emojis, Maestro concocted what it called a Desert Cowboys playlist, which it described as a “desert cowboy vibe playlist with upbeat country and folk rock songs.” The music included “High Horse” by Kacey Musgraves, “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton, and “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson.For a more practical example, we used the keywords “sleep” and “rain” to find a suitable playlist. Maestro created a wonderful mix of soothing tracks, including “An Ending (Ascent)” by Brian Eno, “Europe, After the Rain” by Max Richter, and “Storms in Africa” by Enya. It had the occasional dud suggestion, as one might expect from an AI beta, but Maestro was surprisingly satisfying to use.
(Credit: Amazon/PCMag)
Mobile AppsAmazon has Music apps for both the Android and iOS platforms that perform double duty for Prime and Unlimited. We tested the Android version on a Google Pixel phone and found that it closely duplicates the Music Prime browser experience. The app contains copious playlists, useful recommendations, and a music store for making purchases. It displays lyrics, too.The mobile apps differ from the browser-based Music Prime in one significant way: You can use Amazon’s Alexa tech to search for songs by lyrics or play tracks. For example, when we asked Alexa for dinner music, it supplied a laid-back, easy-listening playlist. In addition, you can cache tracks to a mobile device for offline playback.Verdict: A Decent Bonus for Amazon Prime SubscribersAmazon Music Prime isn’t a huge selling point on its own, but it’s yet another solid feature under the ever-expanding Prime subscription umbrella—especially if you pair it with Amazon hardware. If you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber who just wants to listen to a few podcasts or radio without incurring additional costs (or exploring other apps), Amazon Music Prime is a streaming music service that’s worth checking out, since you’re already paying for it. Just keep in mind that the robust musical selection is limited to shuffled playlists. If you want a feature-packed streaming service that offers live radio, weather updates, and curated stations, Editors’ Choice winners LiveOne, SiriusXM Internet Radio, Spotify, and Tidal should be at the top of your list.Mike Williams and Jeffrey L. Wilson contributed to this review.
Pros
Included with an Amazon Prime subscription
Cool scrolling lyrics
Useful Alexa-specific features
Tight integration with Amazon Echo device family
Fun AI-generated playlists
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Cons
Limited to shuffle listening
Doesn’t let you create stations
Lacks hi-res audio
No longer lets you stream previously uploaded MP3 files
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The Bottom Line
Amazon Music Prime comes with a Prime subscription and lets you stream more than 100 million songs from the company’s robust music library, but it limits you to shuffled tunes.
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