Amazon Prime Music was once a great option for those trying to enjoy tunes from an Alexa speaker, but it’s slowly getting worse. After two price increases to Amazon Music Unlimited in 2022, prices are going up again in February.
Announced in an Amazon FAQ page, starting February 21st, 2023, users will have to pay $10.99 per month to access Music Unlimited. That’s a $1 increase from the current $9.99 price, and it was only $7.99 during the first half of last year.
To make matters worse, if you’re enjoying Music Unlimited on a discounted trial or promotion offer, Amazon will only honor that price for one month. The new pricing will go into effect on the next billing cycle.
And while Prime Music is still bundled with an Amazon Prime membership, it only features “shuffle and play,” meaning you can’t listen to a song anytime, anywhere. It shuffles Amazon’s expansive list of nearly 100 million songs. That change started happening in November, and many users are just beginning to notice Prime Music isn’t playing the songs they want.
Those who want to listen to music on-demand must pay extra for Amazon Music Unlimited, which will soon be $10.99 per month for an individual plan. The Amazon Music Unlimited Student Plan will also jump from $4.99 to $5.99 monthly.
I’m not sure what’s happening at Amazon, but the company has mentioned higher operating costs lately. A yearly membership to Prime received a huge price increase in February last year. It’s shutting down the fantastic Amazon Smile charity platform and just announced a slew of layoffs.
So, if you’re a Prime member who casually listens to music occasionally and you’re ok with Amazon shuffling the songs for you, this is no biggie. However, if you want unlimited access to Amazon’s nearly 100-million song catalog and HD streaming, it’ll cost you even more.