Amazon Responds to Apple Music with Free HD Streaming

Following Apple’s unveiling of its next-generation music service, which features lossless and spatial audio capabilities including Dolby Atmos, Amazon is implementing a strategic adjustment. The company intends to bolster its subscriber base for its streaming music platform.

Amazon Music HD Now Included

Amazon has announced that its premium streaming tier, Amazon Music HD, will be accessible to all qualifying Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers without incurring any additional charges. This represents a significant value addition for existing and new customers.

A Growing HD Catalog

Initially launched in the fall of 2019, Amazon Music HD provided access to over 50 million songs streamed in HD quality – defined as 16-bit depth and a 44.1kHz sample rate, comparable to CD quality. Furthermore, the service promised “millions” of tracks in Ultra HD, offering 24-bit depth and sample rates up to 192kHz, exceeding CD quality.

Currently, Amazon Music’s HD catalog has expanded to encompass more than 70 million songs, with over 7 million tracks available in Ultra HD. Subscribers can also explore a growing selection of songs remixed in immersive 3D Audio formats like Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA.

Immersive Audio Experiences

These 3D Audio tracks are optimized for playback on Amazon’s own high-fidelity speaker, the Echo Studio. Additionally, music in 360RA can be streamed through Amazon Music HD on Sony’s RA5000 and RA3000 speakers utilizing Alexa Cast functionality, as the company highlights.

Competitive Landscape

The initial introduction of HD streaming was largely viewed as a response to the audiophile-focused streaming service, Tidal, which prioritized higher quality streams. It also served to distinguish Amazon’s offering from major competitors such as Apple and Spotify.

Spotify recently announced its own high-end subscription, Spotify HiFi, though details regarding its pricing and launch date remain undisclosed.

Cost Savings for Subscribers

Prior to this change, Amazon Music HD was priced at $12.99 monthly for Amazon Prime members and $14.99 for non-Prime subscribers. Now, both new and current subscribers to the Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Plan ($7.99/month for Prime members, $9.99/month otherwise) or the Family Plan ($14.99/month) can upgrade to Amazon Music HD at no extra cost, resulting in a $5 monthly savings.

Availability

These changes will take effect with the next billing cycle and are currently available in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Canada, France, Italy, and Spain.

Amazon’s Vision

“Our initial goal with the launch of Amazon Music HD was to pioneer the industry by providing music enthusiasts worldwide with the ability to stream the highest quality recordings, faithfully representing the artist’s original intent,” stated Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music. “We are delighted to now extend Amazon Music HD to everyone at no additional cost. All music lovers deserve access to this level of audio quality, and now they have it,” he added.

Apple’s Influence and Spotify’s Position

Amazon’s decision to include HD streaming as a standard upgrade mirrors Apple’s recent announcement of lossless audio coming to Apple Music next month, also at no extra cost. Apple boasts over 75 million songs in lossless audio, alongside spatial audio with Dolby Atmos support. This market shift places pressure on Spotify to competitively price its HiFi service.

Amazon Music Unlimited’s Growth

Amazon Music Unlimited has been considered a potential contender in the music streaming market, leveraging the strength of Amazon’s popular Prime subscription. The service reached 55 million subscribers by early 2020, but Amazon has not released updated subscriber numbers.

For comparison, Apple Music reported 60 million subscribers in 2019, estimated to have grown to 72 million by early 2020, and likely exceeding 80 million currently. Spotify currently leads with 158 million paid subscribers.