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| Amazon responds to Apple's announcement of the lossless audio feature |
In light of the new competition from Apple, Amazon announced that it will not charge additional fees to Amazon Music to allow customers to play audio CDs or broadcast media in better quality.
Going forward, lossless audio will be made available to all Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers for free.
With this move, Amazon wants to retain subscribers to its music streaming service. Amazon launched Amazon Music HD for the first time in Fall 2019 with access to over 50 million songs that can be streamed at 16-bit / 44.1kHz.
It also promises to stream millions of songs in Ultra HD (24bit / 192kHz).
The Amazon Music HD list has grown to over 70 million songs, and over 7 million Ultra HD titles are available.
Amazon Music HD customers can also access more and more mixed songs in 3D audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA that can be played through Echo Studio.
You can also use Alexa Cast to stream 360RA music with Amazon Music HD through Sony's RA5000 and RA3000 speakers.
The introduction of HD broadcasting is seen as a way to counter the threat posed by Tidal, which is luring audiophiles with HD broadcasting while also differentiating its services from major competitors like Apple and Spotify.
Amazon Music HD is $ 12.99 per month for Amazon Prime subscribers and $ 14.99 per month for everyone else.
Amazon Now says: The Amazon Music Unlimited Single Plan ($ 7.99 for Premium members per month, otherwise $ 9.99 per month) or the Family Plan ($ 14.99 per month). New and old subscribers can upgrade for free on Amazon.
The company said: "When we first launched Amazon Music HD, our goal was to lead the industry by giving music fans around the world the ability to play high-quality recordings the way the artists want them to be heard."
We are now excited to offer Amazon Music HD for everyone for free and all audiophiles should be able to enjoy this high quality music.