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If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you may already be enjoying some of the perks that come with the $139 per year membership, such as fast shipping, video streaming and free e-books, magazines and audiobooks. But what about music options — is Amazon Music free with Prime?
» Dive deeper: Is Amazon Prime worth it?
How much does Amazon Music cost?
Amazon Music Prime: Prime members get Amazon Music Prime at no extra cost. This includes unlimited access to the Amazon Music Prime library of more than 100 million songs, dozens of music stations, a large selection of podcasts and thousands of playlists — all ad-free.
With Amazon Music Prime, subscribers get shuffle-only streaming, meaning that songs are in random order. The ability to skip songs and listen offline is limited.
» Mark your calendar: When is Amazon Prime Day?
Amazon Music Unlimited: If you’re a Prime member who wants on-demand music, you’ll have to upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited, which starts at $10.99 per month or $109 annually. Or, if you're not a Prime member, Unlimited costs $11.99 monthly.
Amazon Music Unlimited has the same features as Amazon Music Prime, but with additional perks, such as the ability to skip songs, listen offline and select individual tracks to listen to on-demand rather than in shuffle mode. Amazon Music Unlimited also includes high-definition audio quality across its music library.
New subscribers can try out Amazon Music Unlimited with a 30-day free trial to see if the upgrade is worth it for your listening preferences. After the free period, you'll automatically be charged for the individual plan until you cancel.
Amazon Music Free: If you don’t have Prime membership but want to listen for free, you can use Amazon Music Free. You’ll have to put up with ads and less flexibility on playlists, but there are plenty of stations, playlists and podcasts to choose from.
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Amazon Music Prime vs. other streaming services
There’s no shortage of music streaming options, so how does Amazon Music Prime measure up to other popular platforms such as Spotify, YouTube Music and Apple Music?
Spotify and YouTube Music both offer free versions that compare with Amazon Music Prime features — typically containing ads and limited options for selecting songs.
Apple Music does not offer a free service, though there are often deals for free trials.
If you’re already paying for a Prime membership, taking advantage of Amazon Music Prime may make sense before branching into other streaming services.
» Ready to get started? Find the best streaming subscription for you
» Ready to get started? Find the best streaming subscription for you
For paid subscriptions, Apple Music and YouTube Music provide individual plans for $10.99 per month. The Spotify individual plan costs $11.99 per month and comes with 15 hours of audiobook listening time.
The paid plans from these competitors, with more robust features such as ad-free listening, high-quality sound and the ability to listen offline, are most similar to Amazon Prime Unlimited in features and benefits. Amazon Prime Unlimited costs $10.99 per month if you're a Prime member already, and the $11.99 for non-Prime members is also competitive.
Budgeting for Amazon Music Prime
Deciding between streaming services requires analyzing features, benefits and costs. One advantage Amazon Music Prime carries over other services is that many consumers are already paying for Prime membership — in fact, it’s expected that in 2024 the number of Prime subscribers will reach more than 180 million.
But where does a Prime membership fit into your budget? Entertainment services, such as Amazon Music Prime, plug into the wants category of a 50/30/20 budget, where 50% of income goes toward needs, 30% to wants and 20% to savings and extra payments on debt. If you decide to go with a paid music subscription, it may be helpful to review what else you can save money on in the wants category to make room.
Eligible college students can save money by taking advantage of discounts with Amazon Prime Student, which brings an annual Prime subscription down to $69 per year, plus a free six-month trial.
» Dive deeper: How to budget money in 5 steps
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