amazon.com/music/unlimited
Jeff Bezos is a wealthy man who has his hands in many different areas of business. He dreams of going to the moon, and he is making progress towards that goal.
It requires hundreds of billions of dollars to build a spaceship and actually go to the moon as a private entity, and thanks to that Amazon money, I'm sure Bezos will not have any trouble making that dream a reality.
I could care less where Jeff Bezos goes in outer space, as long as he does not neglect his businesses on Earth. There is a certain standard of excellence that you come to expect from a company providing services by one of the richest men of all time. And I always hold Amazon to that standard, no matter what version of the massive digital empire it is that we are talking about.
I generally believe that Amazon delivers on its expectations. For example, I think the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Man in the High Castle were both highly acclaimed and awarded shows, and Prime Video has a wide selection of syndicated content to watch. Occasionally there are streaming or buffering issues, but for the most part I have not had any major complaints with this area of Amazon.
Upon inspecting Amazon Prime Music, I found myself not altogether satisfied with the lack of available songs and lackluster sound quality. Compared to Spotify and Tidal, AMU seems to fall a bit short in terms of content and usability.
History
Amazon Music Unlimited is a music streaming service that's similar to Amazon Prime Video. You can stream certain content on-demand for free (rather than the baseline monthly price you pay), and you can download and purchase certain titles too. This way, you can enjoy them anytime, offline or on.
In 2007, Amazon Music (then Amazon MP3) launched a public beta version of the service. By 2008, Amazon Music had become the first online music store to sell songs and albums from all of the big four major music labels - EMI, Universal, Warner, and Sony BMG - as well as a number of independent and smaller record companies without Digital Rights Management (DRM). What that means is that most of the songs were sold to customers in MP3 format without any audio watermarking - some songs today are unfortunately watermarked. It depends on what country you are downloading from. Some places are limited on licensing agreements with record companies for one reason or another.
Amazon MP3 was first launched in the United States on December 3, 2008. Amazon then began a gradual global rollout over the years, expanding into the UK on December 3, 2008, Germany on April 1, 2009, and France on June 10, 2009. Amazon continued this rollout over the years, expanding into the Japanese market on November 10th, 2010, Spain and Italy on October 4, 2012, and Mexico on November 7th, 2018.
Recently, on September 17th of 2019, Amazon Music announced that it would be launching a new subscription tier that would be available for Amazon Music users in which listeners can enjoy high definition quality music, over 50 million songs. This lifted Amazon Music up to the status of Tidal and Qobuz for serious audiophiles and sound geeks (I use the term affectionately, of course, as I am one myself).
Design
Really, Amazon Music Unlimited has a design that I would call counterproductive. It's almost as if the people who designed it were intentionally trying to do a standard layout, different from those of Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal just because. Just to be different, I presume. However, there is a reason that the largest audio streaming services in the world all have a similar design and layout ? because it works well.
My grandpa always used to tell me when I was a kid, "If it's not broken, don't fix it." And I feel as if those are some words of wisdom that Amazon Music should have heeded when designing their music streaming platform. This is going to take some time to get used to, surely.
Despite some aesthetic concerns, I actually like the way Amazon Music Unlimited looks. It has a sleek, dark theme that I find appealing. I would describe it as ?midnight steel? with a lot of blacks and blues and also plenty of dark and metallic grays. This makes for a really slick presentation.
The layout of the design leaves a lot to be desired. First, everything is reversed- albums are on the left and playlist options are on the right. This makes it feel backwards and clunky. However, after getting used to it, it shouldn't be an issue.
Content
Well, as I touched on briefly before, Amazon Music Unlimited (and Amazon Music Unlimited HD) offers over 50 million songs. This blows Spotify out of the water. At least in terms of quantity of songs. Spotify boasts just over 30 million. However, 50 million songs are certainly nothing to roll your eyes at, that?s for sure.
If you're a music lover and don't mind paying for your tunes, Amazon Music Unlimited is definitely worth considering. Not only do you get access to millions of songs on demand, but you can also download them (for a price) and keep them even if you cancel your membership. However, if you decide to cancel your membership prior to the songs downloaded in the free trial period being unusable, it's important to know that those songs will no longer be accessible.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
I have some mixed feelings about the desktop browser version of Amazon Music Unlimited. On the one hand, their music is beautiful and easy to listen to. However, the mobile app is much better in terms of Design and usability.
Others seem to feel that Amazon Music Unlimited is best enjoyed through a mobile device. Many users rated the app with a 4.7 out of 5 stars on the Apple App Store, indicating their satisfaction with it. So, it seems clear that this is an app that users enjoy using, and it's likely where they'll be spending the majority of their time using it.
Pricing and Plans
Amazon Music offers 4 different plans, each with its own set of payment options. An individual account runs $7.99 per month, which is a very competitive rate compared to the industry standard of $10. The family plan offers up to 6 accounts with simultaneous streaming, which is another fair deal if you ask me. The single device plan costs $3.99 per month.
If you are a student, Amazon Music Unlimited offers a great deal--just $4.99 per month. This offer is always available to students, so you can enjoy listening to your favorite music without worrying about costs.
If you want Amazon Music Unlimited HD, you'll need to subscribe with a single account for $14.99.
Suggestions that I have for Amazon Music Unlimited
I would consider making a redesign of your in-browser media player. Keep the aesthetic, find a more intuitive layout. I would also find a way to get around the watermark business. That is incredibly annoying. Especially for songs that you have paid for. Oh, and adding podcasts into the mix would be a great move, too.
Conclusion
If you're looking for an expansive library of music at a very fair price, Amazon Music Unlimited is a great option to consider. There are a few technical downsides, but there is a good chance that with time, these issues will be resolved. After all, it's Amazon we're talking about.
Popular search queries
