Amazon informed customers on Wednesday (Jan. 29) that the prices for Amazon Music Unlimited, the company’s on-demand music streaming service, are increasing in the U.S., U.K. and Canada.
In the U.S., the individual plan will rise to $11.99 per month from $10.99 per month, according to a company spokesperson. For Prime members, the monthly cost will jump to $10.99 from $9.99. Similarly, the monthly family plan price is increasing to $19.99 from $16.99 while the annual price will climb to $199 from $169.
The U.S. price increases put Amazon Music Unlimited’s prices for non-Prime members in equal territory to Spotify, which has cost $11.99 per month for individuals and $19.99 per month for the family plan since June 2023. YouTube Music costs $10.99 per month in the U.S. for an individual plan, although its family plan costs just $16.99 per month. Similarly, Apple Music and Tidal also charge $10.99 for individual plans and $16.99 for family plans.
Amazon was among the earliest music streaming companies to raise its prices. It started by raising fees for Prime members to $8.99 in May 2022, then hiking the price for non-Prime members to $10.99 in January 2023 and eventually changing Prime members’ price to $9.99 in August 2023. That year, Amazon justified the higher prices by saying they would allow the company “[to] bring even more content and features.” Last year, Amazon Music followed also Spotify’s lead into audiobooks by offering Audible’s audiobook content for subscribers. At the time, Steve Boom, vp of audio, Twitch and games at Amazon, said the company’s strategy was “to add new things to the product” that add value and later “figure out what the right pricing strategy is in the long term.”
In addition to its Amazon Music Unlimited on-demand service, Amazon also offers a free, ad-supported music streaming service, Amazon Music Free, and a service free to Prime members called Amazon Music Prime that provides podcast and shuffle music listening.
