Amazon Music’s free tier arrives on its Android, iOS, FireTV, and web apps

By Shubham Agarwal Published November 19, 2019

Amazon Music’s free tier is now rolling out to its Android, iOS, FireTV, and web apps. Originally announced earlier this year, the ad-supported plan was initially restricted to Echo and other Alexa-powered smart home devices.

Similar to Spotify, Amazon Music’s free tier doesn’t offer on-demand access to its music library, but instead limits listeners to a selection of playlists and stations. Therefore, you can’t simply look up and play a specific album or track. For that, you will have to upgrade to one of the many premium Amazon Music subscriptions. Fortunately, to sign up for it, you don’t need an Amazon Prime membership or even a credit card.

Recommended Videos

“Music fans will be able to play thousands of stations based on any song, artist, era, and genre; hear top global playlists; and the best in Holiday tunes,” the e-commerce giant wrote in a blog post.

Amazon is making the new ad-supported option available in a handful of countries for starters including the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. It didn’t specify whether it intends to bring it to the rest of the markets.

The move is likely the result of escalating competition in the music streaming business. According to analytics firm Statistica, Amazon Music currently ranks seventh in the U.S., trailing Amazon Music, Spotify, and others by a significant margin.

Apart from the new free tier, Amazon Music has a complicated set of subscriptions. There’s the $13-per-month ($15 for non-prime members) Amazon Music HD, which gets you unlimited access to over 50 million songs in lossless quality; $8 Amazon Music Unlimited ($10 for non-prime members), which is the standard non-HD subscription; $4 single-device Amazon Music Unlimited, which is strictly for one Echo device; and Amazon Prime Music, which the company bundles for free with a Prime membership.

Across the globe as well, the music streaming industry is booming with a number of players expanding to new markets. On Monday, a new report revealed that TikTok’s owner, Bytedance, may also unveil a new music streaming service before the end of the year.

Shubham Agarwal

Former Journalist

Shubham Agarwal is a freelance technology journalist from Ahmedabad, India. His work has previously appeared in Firstpost…

Topics

Music

The best music streaming services of 2025

Spotify on an Android device.

Who could have ever imagined that one day we would be able to access the entire discographies of our favorite artists and albums right from our smartphones or tablets, no matter where we are in the world? This remarkable convenience is one of the many wonders of music streaming services, a revolution that has transformed the way we experience and enjoy music.

In today's digital age, numerous audio platforms have emerged, each offering unique features and catering to different tastes. Whether it's Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, or any of the myriad other options available, these services aim to deliver your beloved tracks, intriguing podcasts, hilarious comedy specials, and countless other sound bites directly to your ears with just a few taps on your screen.

Music

Save on Avid Pro Tools music production software and start creating magic

Pro Tools end of year sale.

Typically, when you create music, whether a full-fledged track, background music for another project, or even just playing around, you have to use a variety of tools. You might have to jump between applications to do various things, like recording, applying post-production effects, and more. Avid Pro Tools is a comprehensive end-to-end audio production suite that aims to provide you with everything you need. With the tools, you can create, edit, produce, mix, master, and deliver, and much more.

Here's the kicker: For New Year's you can save 33% off and make music for a full year at a heavily discounted price. Normally, you'd pay $99 per year for Avid Pro Tools Artist, but right now it's only $66 per year. That deal will only be available from December 31 to January 3, though, so there isn't a lot of time if you want to take advantage.

Phones

Spotify vs. Pandora: which streaming service should you choose?

spotify vs pandora on iphone

Let's settle a musical debate: which music streaming platform should you use: Spotify or Pandora?

Both services have their unique strengths and weaknesses. Spotify boasts a more extensive music catalog, robust social features for sharing and discovering music with friends, and a more polished user experience across devices.