Amazon Slashes Streaming Music Service Price

Streaming music services are all the rage, and for the past few years Spotify and Apple Music have been the two biggest names in the game. Amazon recently launched a similar service, but now has sought to differentiate themselves from their competitors by offering their streaming music service, Amazon Music Unlimited, for only $3.99 a month, less than half the cost of other services.

However, with this cheaper price tag, there is a catch. In order to take advantage of this low price, users can only use Amazon Music Unlimited on Amazon devices, such as the Echo, Echo Dot, or Tap. In addition, the service is limited to only one device, unlike Spotify or Apple Music, which can be used across multiple platforms under one account.

However, people will be able to have access to Amazon Music Unlimited on multiple devices (and non-Amazon devices like smartphones), it just comes with a higher price tag. This service is available for $7.99 for Amazon Prime members and $9.99 for those who do not subscribe.

The biggest draw of the cheaper option is the further integration it offers with Amazon Echo, and its voice recognition software, Alexa. Much like Siri and Apple Music, using Alexa and Amazon Music Unlimited in tandem will allow for more personalized commands and better results. For example, instead of simply asking Alexa to play a specific song or artist, Echo owners can also ask for playlists based on mood or genre, or both. For example, asking Alexa to play “upbeat music from the 90s” will yield a personalized playlist.

It is an interesting play for Amazon to offer both a cheaper but more confined solution for music streaming. It will be interesting to see whether or not people are willing to add this service to supplement Apple Music or Spotify, and if any are willing to make this their only option for streaming music. This development will be a good case study for marketers to keep an eye on.