Prices for subscription services have been going up in the past few months, and Amazon Music Unlimited is the latest service to see a hike. Amazon increased the costs for its Music Unlimited tiers in the US and UK, matching Apple’s similar price hike for Apple Music from a few months ago. Both services are now more expensive for Spotify, the music streaming service with the largest market share.
Apple increased Apple Music prices in October from $9.99 to $10.99 per month in the US. That was just one of Apple’s streaming services that saw price hikes that month. Amazon Music Unlimited will match Apple’s new price, increasing from $9.99 to $10.99 per month in the US.
Subscribers in Great Britain will see a similar price hike for the service. They’ll pay £10.99 per month instead of £9.99.
Amazon’s Music Unlimited Student Plan will see the same $1/£1 price hike, depending on the market. In the US, students will pay $5.99 per month instead of the previous $4.99 subscription costs. UK students will get identical prices but in pounds instead of dollars.
Amazon confirmed the price increases for Music Unlimited in the US and UK via local help pages that explain the changes. “To help us bring you even more content and features, we’re updating the prices of select Amazon Music Unlimited plans,” the help docs say.
Furthermore, Amazon says the updated prices will start on February 21st, 2023. You still have time to take advantage of the previous Music Unlimited price or promo deals you might have scored recently. Amazon explains:
You will continue to receive the discounted rate for the remainder of your promotion period. Once that period ends, we will honor the original subscription price, plus applicable taxes, for one billing cycle. The new pricing, plus applicable taxes, will go into effect on the bill after that.
You don’t have to worry about the new price hike if you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber who also has Amazon Music Unlimited. As Billboard points out, Amazon raised the price of Amazon Music Unlimited for Prime subscriptions last May. The monthly cost went up from $7.99 to $8.99 per month.
Spotify is still available for $9.99 per month, making it cheaper than Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited. But Spotify might raise prices too at some point in the not-too-distant future. Spotify CEO Daniel EK said so during the company’s October 25th earnings call.
Spotify is the dominant player in the music streaming business, with a 30.5% market share, according to mid-2022 stats from Midia. Amazon had 13.3% of the market, slightly below Apple’s 13.7% share.
