Amazon Music is reducing the price of its high-fidelity audio service just as Apple announced today that it's bringing lossless audio to Apple Music subscribers at no extra charge.
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Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers get HD audio for free. High-fidelity streaming used to be a $14.99 per month option. Amazon Music Unlimited is priced at $9.99 per month. Prime members can get it for just $7.99 per month. Amazon Music HD drops to $10 per monthApple announced today that all Apple Music subscribers will be able to enjoy Dolby Atmos spatial audio in lossless quality at no additional charge beginning next month. Ahead of Apple's announcement, Amazon had lowered the price of its high-fidelity offering.
Steve Boom, Amazon Music's Vice President:
It’s something we’ve all we’ve been wanting to do for a long time. When we launched, we already broke the mold by taking a service that had been $19.99—and really just for the audiophile at that price point—and brought it down to something that was much more mass-market at $14.99.
According to Billboard, the high-fidelity service is now available to all Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no additional cost. Before the change, Amazon Music HD was a $14.99 per month value, or $12.99 per month for Prime members.
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Family plans are eligible for Amazon Music HD at no extra charge.
What is Amazon Music Unlimited?Amazon Music Unlimited is currently available in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The service is priced at $9.99 per month, just like the individual Apple Music subscription. However, Amazon Music Unlimited is available to Amazon Prime members in exchange for a lower price of just $7.99 per month.
Streaming heavyweights going in on lossless audioAmazon Music HD debuted in September 2019.
The service brings more than 70 million songs in CD quality (16 bit at 44.1 kHz). Out of that number, some seven million tracks are available in ultra HD quality which exceeds CD quality (24 bit at 48kHz, 96 kHz and 192 kHz). Apple Music also offers a hi-resolution Lossless tier all the way up to 24 bit at 192 kHz.
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HD streaming is also offered by the likes of Deezer and Tidal, with Tidal continuing to charge $19.99 per month for the service. Spotify is apparently working on a similar offering of its own.
Apple has worked with artists to record tracks in Dolby Atmos with spatial audio. Apple's offering will be ready for public consumption next month, with thousands of spatial audio tracks available at launch and more to come later.
