Amazon launches twofold music streaming service with separate Echo-exclusive plan

As we reported back in August, Amazon has been working on two proprietary on-demand music streaming services, one of which exclusive to the Amazon Echo home assistant. Amazon's new Spotify competitor is called Amazon Music Unlimited and, as can be expected, offers unlimited music streaming on demand, but differentiates itself from the competition by being cheaper. The service will cost the same $9.99 a month as Spotify, but will be made available to Amazon Prime users for $7.99, which is not a bad incentive.

Not only that, but Amazon Music Unlimited will also be a two-part gig, offering a second streaming plan tied exclusively to the Amazon Echo. It will go for $3.99 a month and will be available only on Amazon Echo speakers (including Amazon Tap and Echo Dot). As undesirable as it may seem to jam out to your favorite tracks playing from a relatively weak speaker, Amazon is betting on Alexa as the real differentiator in this case. You'll be able to request songs from the assistant in a variety of different ways, so, for example, saying “Alexa, play that song that goes 'I can make your hands clap'” will play “HandClap” by Fitz and the Tantrums, while saying something in the lines of “Alexa, play some songs for working out,” will make the AI assistant curate a relevant playlist for you. Amazon Prime users will be able upgrade from the Echo-only plan to the full Amazon Music Unlimited service for an additional $4.00 a month, while non-Prime customers will be able to do the same for $6.00. The Echo plan is included in the full $9.99 subscription. If you want to try it out for free, all you'll have to do is ask Alexa to start your Music Unlimited 30-day trial.

Alongside the new streaming service, Amazon is also launching a redesigned version of the Amazon Music app, with refreshed UI that emphasizes on album artworks while putting music discovery to the forefront. The app is available for Android, iOS, Web, PC and Mac.

Keeping up with the likes of Spotify, there will also be a family subscription plan coming later this year, which will allow up to six people simultaneous access to Music Unlimited for $14.99 a month. Amazon Music Unlimited will soon be made available in the US, with the UK, Austria, and Germany queued for later this year.