Technology giant Amazon says it will raise the cost of its subscription-based streaming music service for most customers.
The cost of Amazon Music Unlimited will increase from $8 a month to $9 a month for members, with tax in some areas bringing the price even higher. An annual subscription to the service will cost $90 a year plus tax, up from $80 a year, Amazon said.
The price increase is for Amazon Music Unlimited customers who also subscribe to Amazon Prime, a membership service that includes free, two-day shipping on most items, access to Amazon Prime Video and other features. Amazon Prime costs $15 a month or $140 a year.
The price increase means Amazon Prime customers who would normally enjoy a $2 a month discount will see that discount cut in half. A cheaper, single-device plan that Amazon offers to Prime customers will also see a fee increase from $4 a month to $5 a month plus tax.
The fee hike will take effect for Amazon Music Unlimited customers starting May 5. Amazon said the price increase was necessary so that the company could bring customers “even more content and features.”
Amazon Music Unlimited is offered to non-Amazon Prime members at a cost of $10 a month, bringing it in line with streaming music services offered at the same price by its two closest competitors, Spotify and Apple.
Amazon Music Unlimited offers access to more than 75 million songs in high quality, with some tracks offered as lossless streams. The company is also starting to offer spatial audio content, similar to what is available on Apple Music.
A smaller catalog of 2 million songs is available as part of the Amazon Prime Music service, which is offered to Amazon Prime members for free.
