If you’re like any other early tech adopters, you’re probably used to saying “hey Alexa,” as the Amazon Echo has taken off in the year and a half or so it’s been available to the general public. In fact, the wireless speaker that reacts to voice commands has sold over three million so far – and now it’s getting its own streaming service. Amazon Music Unlimited has launched today.
“But Amazon already has a streaming service,” you might be thinking. Yes, Prime Music is a service that’s available to Amazon Prime members, but it’s not really a full-fledged service, with only 2 million songs to Spotify’s 35 million. Amazon Music Unlimited appears to be a more comprehensive service, planning on expanding to the rate of Apple Music and Spotify. If you already have an Echo, you’ll only pay $3.99/month. If you don’t, or you want to listen on a device other than the speaker, it’ll cost you $9.99/month. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, it’ll set you back $7.99 a month or $79.99 for a year. That’s not a bad deal, and if the Echo is the primary device you use to listen to music at home, it’s probably worth paying a few extra bucks if you already don’t have a subscription to a streaming service. That being said, if you already have a Spotify Premium account, you can use it on the speaker.
Amazon’s head of music Steve Bloom spoke to Billboard, stating that Music Unlimited’s interactivity will set it apart from it’s competition. Asking Alexa to play the new Green Day song, for example, will bring up their latest single, as opposed to the newest song. And it can match lyrics to hit songs. As smart devices continue to expand and people are streaming more than ever, a $3.99 price point is a smart bet on Amazon’s part, and this is the first streaming service to have three price points. The question is if it will get anyone that’s already using a different streaming service to switch in addition to getting people to subscribe for the first time.
