Amazon has opened up the entire Amazon Music catalogue to Prime subscribers, but isn’t completely removing the shackles from the streaming service.
While all 100 million songs will be available for Prime subscribers ad-free, users will still have to listen in shuffle mode, unless they add a Music Unlimited subscription. Before today, it was only around two million songs available ad-free with unlimited skips to Prime subscribers.
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What is does mean is Prime subscribers will be able to access all available songs from an artist, or on an album, or within a playlist, but won’t be able to listen to them in order. You also won’t be able to just pick a song and just hear that unless you keep skipping until you get to it.
While it still falls well short of rivalling the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, it may be a compelling option for existing Prime subscribers who’re looking to trim their digital services budget and don’t mind shuffle mode.
You can still enjoy Taylor Swift’s Midnights album – which incredibly occupied the entire Billboard top 10 this week thanks to its streaming success – in full, you just won’t be able to listen to it in the order Taylor intended for it to be heard.
If you want the fully-fledged Apple Music rival, you can still get lossless and spatial audio, and the option to listen in any order you please (and Taylor wanted) with a Music Unlimited subscription.
Sign up to Amazon Prime
Want to enjoy free next-day delivery and access to Prime Video? You can sign up to a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime right now.
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- Cancel any time
- 30-day free trial
Amazon is also removing ads from some of its library of home grown podcasts within the Music app and debuting a new feature called podcast previews. Amazon calls it a “short digestible soundbite” (via The Verge) that will enable listeners to get the gist of what the show is all about before deciding whether to dive into the full episode. Amazon hopes this will be a great aid for content producers seeking to boost discovery.
Of course none of this comes absolutely free. You will need an ongoing Amazon Prime subscription to be able to access all of that ad-free music and podcasts.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
