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10 Things You Need To Know About Amazon Music
Derek Lamb
27.3.2020
Derek Lamb
27.3.2020
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There are a lot of things to like about streaming from Amazon Music. As a must-have for those uploading music, the platform is also harnessing a growing fanbase and providing exciting new features, making it something that shouldn’t be overlooked. Offering Amazon Prime, Amazon Music Unlimited, Family Plans and more – it’s undeniable that they are one of the top streaming services available.
Here are 10 things to help you get to know Amazon Music a little better.
Let’s get the basics out of the way, and quickly define Amazon Music for those who have been under a rock (don’t worry, no hard feelings).
Amazon Music is a digital music streaming service operated by the Amazon company. Launched in 2007, the platform quickly gained traction. Since then, Amazon have expanded their repertoire, added various subscription packages and improved their service. As a company that is used by millions globally, the next step was to conquer music streaming. Knowing the giant that Amazon is, just imagine the many great things that the company incorporates into their streaming service.
Amazon’s music player gives it’s competitors a run for their money in regards to listening options. Amazon Music download is available on your phone, tablet, Android, Echo Dot, IOS and Web – so, it’s pretty versatile. Amazon Music apps also work with Google’s Android Auto or Apple’s CarPlay, so you can listen to your favourite tracks when driving.
In addition, it’s available on any Alexa-enabled device, plus Fire tablets and Fire TV’s. There are also Amazon Music Desktop apps for Mac & PC.
Wondering ‘how much is Amazon Music Unlimited’ and what more you get? We’ve got you covered below:
Amazon offers a free subscription, which does not offer offline playback. However, Prime and Unlimited both offer offline playback, unlimited song skips, and thousands of expertly curated playlists. Amazon Unlimited also offers streaming in HD quality as well as Ultra HD and 3D playback. They all offer the ability to follow artists.
Speaking of artists, let’s take a look at a few artist-related Amazon Music features, which are all usable on the Amazon desktop app.
The artist profile features the ability to favorite artists, add artists songs to playlists, related and featured playlists that are curated by Amazon’s editorial, as well as artist radio stations.
Artists are unfortunately no longer able to claim their Amazon Music page directly, meaning that page updates must be handled by contacting the respective artists’ distribution company. The distributor handles the delivery of songs for artists Amazon Music uploads.
Amazon pays artists $00.00402 per stream. You would need at least 366,169 streams to earn a monthly living wage in the US from Amazon streams. Artists are paid from their respective PRO (Performing Rights Organization) which in the US are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Payments are made quarterly.
Artists can deliver their music to Amazon for streaming and for sale by using a digital distributor such as TuneCore, Ditto, UnitedMasters, Symphonic Distribution, Distrokid, and many others. Distributors like Tunecore or Distrokid come with fees, while distributors like UnitedMasters are free.
When you compare Amazon Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited vs Spotify, Amazon is pretty close when it comes to music quality, expert music curation, high quality streaming, song library building, pays and integration options.
Let’s compare some of the facts:
Amazon pays artists $0.00402 per stream compared to Spotify, which pays $0.00437 per stream.
Amazon Music features Alexa voice recognition for music streaming requests. Using Alexa with Amazon also offers the ability to search for songs by mood, lyric, artist, or decade. Spotify also uses Alexa, however the integration is more limited and this feature works better with Amazon Music. One difference between the two services is that Amazon offers users the ability to get Unlimited for $3.99 per month if they own a Echo device. Plus, you can just ask your Alexa device to start a free trial.
Offering thousands of expertly curated playlists and personalised streaming stations, plus live audio streams of Bundesliga soccer matches – you won’t be spoiled for choice. Spotify also offers expert curated and algorithmic playlists, like Discover Weekly, which is a special playlist that is delivered every Monday.
Amazon Music is available in 46 countries, whereas Spotify is available in 79 countries.
The cost is $9.99 per month to subscribe to Amazon’s Unlimited service. Spotify costs $9.99 per month to subscribe to its premium service, so price-wise, there isn’t a difference. However, if you are already an Amazon Prime user, you can receive Amazon Prime Music at no additional cost, or upgrade to Unlimited for just $7.99 – so there is a saving this way. Additionally, both platforms offer free subscriptions as well as free trials to their paid plans.
If you’d like to compare more streaming services and see Amazon Music vs Apple Music, Deezer and more, make sure to look at our guide to music streaming services.
Now that we have compared Amazon and Spotify, let’s continue looking at Amazon’s features.
As mentioned before, Amazon offers the ability to use Alexa to make song searches and requests by voice recognition. When using Alexa, you are able to search for music by artist, lyric, mood, and even decade. This is the most advanced song searching system for any streaming service out there.
Even as a service that pays less than many other streaming services, Amazon Music still stands as a growing giant in the music streaming world. With the advanced features, hands-on editorial curation, voice recognition technology, and high quality streaming, the platform will continue to grow as a go-to DSP for artists and consumers.
For the many users of Roku, the ability to stream through Amazon Music is also there. Roku users can enjoy all the benefits right from their Roku device, with Alexa also being a usable feature.
Let’s take a full look at the plans that you can subscribe to:
This one comes free. As mentioned earlier, if you’re a Prime user, you have Prime Music.
This is a free, ad-supported version of Amazon Music Unlimited.
This offers over 50 million songs. Subscription costs $7.99 per month (or $79 per year) for Prime members, or $9.99 per month for everyone else.
This plan is attached to the Amazon Echo device and charges $4 per month to subscribe. It also works the same with Fire devices. This plan is for a single device only.
For students, Amazon charges $60 per year for Prime membership. This can also be upgraded to Unlimited for $1 per month.
With this plan, subscribers get the highest digital audio quality, starting with a 90-day free trial, then increasing to $15 per month ($13 for Prime members). The family HD option is $20.
The Family Plan is $15 per month for everybody. Prime members also receive a yearly discount ($150 per year).
Questions about any of Amazon’s many features or anything else can be directed to Amazon Music’s customer service. They work actively to solve any issues a customer may have with their Amazon Music subscription. That, and the list of benefits and features listed earlier provide good reason to try it out – and with free trial options, what do you have to lose? Artists should consider focusing on gaining fans from the large audience, so don’t skip out on this platform when uploading music through your distributor.
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