Today, Amazon Music’s HD catalog has grown to more than 70 million songs and there are over 7 million Ultra HD tracks available. It also promised “millions” more songs that would stream in Ultra HD, or 24-bit, with a sample rate of up to 192kHz (or better than CD quality). The company says that going forward, its high-quality streaming tier, Amazon Music HD, will be made available to all eligible Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no extra cost.Īmazon first announced Amazon Music HD in fall 2019 with access to over 50 million songs that would stream in what Amazon is calling HD, with a bit depth of 16 bits and a sample rate of 44.1kHz (around CD-quality). However, Prime members listening on Amazon Music (who don’t subscribe to an unlimited plan) are now mostly limited to shuffle-play mode, based on artist, album or playlist, whereas previously the 2 million songs were available to stream on-demand.On the heels of this morning’s announcement of Apple’s next-generation music service featuring lossless audio and spatial audio with support for Dolby Atmos, Amazon is making a move likely aimed at retaining its own streaming music subscribers. Meanwhile, last fall Amazon Music increased the number of songs available as part of Prime from 2 million previously to its full catalog of 100 million tracks and added hundreds of thousands of podcast episodes ad-free, including the entire slate of Wondery’s shows. Spotify chief Daniel Ek has said the company also is considering a price increase in the U.S., where it still charges $9.99 per month for an individual plan. The latest price increase by Amazon Music comes after Apple in October 2022 raised the price of Apple Music for the first time, increasing from $9.99 to $10.99 per month for the individual plan (and increasing the price of the family plan with up to six accounts from $14.99 to $16.99 per month). In May 2022, the company raised the price of the Amazon Music Unlimited individual plan for Prime members from $7.99 to $8.99 per month (or from $79 to $89 per year). That came after Amazon raised the price of Prime memberships in the U.S. in early 2022 for the first time in nearly four years, hiking the annual fee for the program 17%, from $119 to $139.
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