Amazon Music announced that going forward, its high-quality streaming tier, Amazon Music HD, will be available to all eligible Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no extra cost, unlocking access to the highest-quality streaming audio for music fans. In 2019, Neil Young called the launch of HD audio for Amazon “the biggest thing to happen in music since the introduction of digital audio” and now, even more fans can stream music with all of the depth, vibrancy, and emotion from artists’ original recordings. Learn more about Amazon Music HD here.
“When we first launched Amazon Music HD, our goal was to lead the industry by enabling music fans around the world to stream the best quality recording, the way artists intended their music to be heard,” says Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music. “We’re thrilled now to make Amazon Music HD available to everyone at no extra cost. All music fans should have access to this quality of music, and now they do!”
“Amazon Music HD gives listeners unlimited access to more than 70 million songs in High Definition (HD) audio, more than 7 million songs in Ultra HD (hi-res audio), the highest-quality streaming audio available, and a rapidly-growing catalog of 3D Audio, including songs mixed in Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio.” Unlike Apple Music, most of Amazon Music HD’s catalog is only available as standard 16-bit/44.1kHz files (CD quality). There are only 7 million songs in Ultra HD (better than CD quality), up to 24-bit/192kHz.
Amazon says that it has added more than 5 million songs to its Ultra HD catalog since its 2019 launch. With Amazon Music HD, customers also have access to a rapidly-growing catalog of songs remixed in 3D Audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA. Listeners can stream these 3D mixes when listening on Amazon’s groundbreaking high-fidelity smart speaker, Echo Studio. Music in 360RA can also be streamed via Amazon Music HD on Sony’s RA5000 and RA3000 speakers by using Alexa Cast.
New and existing subscribers to the Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Plan, at $7.99/month for Prime members and $9.99/month for Amazon customers, or the Family Plan, at $14.99/month, can now easily upgrade to Amazon Music HD at no extra cost. The Amazon Music HD tier was previously an additional $5/month for current subscribers to the Individual or Family Plan. For current subscribers to Amazon Music HD, there will be no extra charge for HD starting with their next billing cycle.
Subscribers to Amazon Music Unlimited can now upgrade to Amazon Music HD at no extra cost in the US, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, and Spain.
www.amazonmusic.com
