Amazon Music Unlimited has just been given a price hike for Prime subscribers, but the streaming service still costs less than Spotify if you're happy to continue paying for Prime.
Music Unlimited, which is a premium Amazon music streaming service that sits alongside its Music Free and Music Prime options, has gone up from $8.99 / £8.99 to $9.99 / £9.99 a month (for Prime subscribers). Family plan pricing has also gone up from $15.99 / £15.99 to $16.99 / £16.99 a month.
Amazon raised Music Unlimited pricing for non-Prime members back in February, when its monthly price went up to $10.99 / £10.99. But despite Spotify's recent price rise, subscribing to Amazon Music Unlimited is still $1 / £1 per month cheaper than Spotify, as long as you're Prime member.
This new Music Unlimited pricing has now started for new customers, who'll see it when signing up for the service. If you're an existing customer, Amazon's support page says that "the updated price will go into effect on or after September 19, 2023", or on the date of your next monthly renewal.
So how exactly does Amazon's paid music streaming service compare to the best music streaming services? Well, all of Amazon's rivals – from Apple Music to Spotify – have increased their monthly pricing recently, so it hasn't really changed the landscape too much.
Music Unlimited is still slightly cheaper than Spotify and similar streaming services if you subscribe to Prime (which costs $14.99 / £8.99, or $139 / £95 a year). But now that most streaming services cost the same (without other subscriptions), we think Tidal and Apple Music still have the edge for non-Prime members.
Is Music Unlimited still good value?
Music streaming services have been playing a game of musical chairs with their pricing, which makes things more than a little confusing. But as you can see in the table above, they've largely now consolidated around a similar monthly price for their ad-free options.
This means that Amazon Music Unlimited is actually one of the last services to raise its pricing during the past year. Apple Music increased its prices in November 2022, Deezer did the same in October 2022, and Spotify Premium followed suit just a few weeks ago in July.
If you already subscribe to Amazon Prime, then Music Unlimited could still be the best option for you. While its mobile app isn't quite as slick as Apple Music or Spotify, its catalog is impressively deep – and in the absence of the long-rumored Spotify HiFi, you may also prefer Amazon's large collection of 24-bit/192kHz of tracks.
Since Amazon added Dolby Atmos spatial audio to Music Unlimited, you can also stream music mixed in that format on some of the best Sonos speakers and your iOS or Android smartphone.
