On May 17, 2021, Amazon announced that it was making its HD music streaming tier free to all subscribers of Amazon Music Unlimited. In announcing the change, Amazon contacted subscribers to Amazon Music Unlimited, offering them a free upgrade.
Amazon says that it has 70 million songs in its library that are in lossless audio, with an additional seven million songs in Ultra HD.
"We have some great news for you – going forward, you can get our highest quality audio at no extra cost! Just click on the link below to activate your free upgrade to Amazon Music HD," Amazon wrote in an email to subscribers in mid-May.
What does this move mean for Amazon and for you?
What Is Amazon Music HD?
Amazon advertises Amazon Music HD as its "highest-quality streaming audio," while also touting it as "better than CD quality." Amazon Music HD used to cost an additional $4.99 a month, but that's no longer the case. It's now free for all Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers.
Amazon Music Unlimited costs $7.99 a month for Amazon Prime members, and $2 more for non-Prime members.
Which Devices Support Amazon Music HD?
The Amazon Music HD functionality is supported by all Alexa-enabled Echo devices, as well as Fire TVs and Fire Tablets. In addition, The Echo Studio, Echo Link, and Echo Amp all support Ultra HD-quality audio. And iPhones and iPad released in 2014 and later support HD/Ultra HD.
According to Amazon, Alexa-enabled devices always play the highest-quality audio available.
Why Is Amazon Making Music HD Free?
Amazon made its announcement the same day that Apple announced lossless and spatial audio would be free to all its Apple Music subscribers. The change, in terms of lossless audio, applies to 75 million songs that are currently available in Apple's library.
As for spatial audio, it will come to Apple Music along with support for Dolby Atmos.
One difference is that Apple said that it would make the change in June, alongside the arrival of iOS 14.6, while Amazon's move was immediate.
What Makes Amazon Music HD Worthwhile?
You might be wondering what the difference between the types of music offered by Amazon.
HD tracks, also known as "CD quality" per Amazon's own definition, are 16-bit audio. They offer a minimum sample rate of 44.1kHz, and an average bitrate of 850kbps.
Ultra HD tracks, on the other hand, offer a bit depth of 24bits, with sample rates ranging from 44.1kHz up to 192kHz, with an average bitrate of 3730kbps. In comparison, other streaming services offer an average bitrate of 320kbps.
Spotify Is Preparing HiFi Audio
Spotify is one of the main rivals of Apple and Amazon in music streaming. In February 2021, Spotify announced that it was preparing to launch Spotify HiFi. The feature, set for launch later in 2021, will allow subscribers in some markets the ability to upgrade their audio quality.
The feature, which has been endorsed by singer Billie Eilish amongst others, promises to "deliver music in CD-quality, lossless audio format to your device and Spotify Connect-enabled speakers," Spotify said at the launch.
Free Lossless Audio Is Only a Good Thing
Not everyone can always tell the difference between regular and lossless audio. But if you're one of those who can, this is a big deal.
Whether you're in the Amazon or Apple ecosystem, the arrival of lossless music as something resembling a standard feature is good news, especially since those companies are not requiring users to pay more.
With Spotify also about to jump on the bandwagon, the music you're streaming is likely to sound a lot better than it used to.