Amazon Music

Amazon Music
DeveloperAmazon
Launch date25 September 2007; 17 years ago (2007-09-25)
Platform(s)Windows, macOS, iOS, tvOS, Android, Fire OS, Amazon Alexa, Amazon Echo, HTML5, Android TV, Wear OS, WatchOS, Tesla vehicles
Pricing modelVariable
AvailabilityArgentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States and Uruguay[1]
Websitemusic.amazon.com

Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers.[2]

It was the first music store to sell music without digital rights management (DRM) from the four major music labels (EMI, Universal, Warner, and Sony BMG), as well as many independents.[3][4][5][6] All tracks were originally sold in 256 kilobits-per-second variable bitrate MP3 format without per-customer watermarking or DRM; however, some tracks are now watermarked.[7]

The service was launched in the United States as a public beta on September 25, 2007,[3] and the final version followed in January 2008. Amazon MP3 was launched in the United Kingdom on December 3, 2008, in Germany on April 1, 2009, and in France on June 10, 2009.[8] The German edition has been available in Austria and Switzerland since December 3, 2009. The Amazon MP3 store was launched in Japan on November 10, 2010.[9][10] The Spanish and Italian editions were launched on October 4, 2012. The edition in Mexico was announced on November 7, 2018.[1] Licensing agreements with recording companies restrict the countries in which the music can be sold.[11]

On September 17, 2019, Amazon Music announced the launch of Amazon Music HD, a new tier of lossless quality music with more than 50 million songs in High Definition (16bit/44.1 kHz), and millions of songs in Ultra High Definition (24(bit)/44(kHz), 24/48, 24/96, 24/192), the highest-quality streaming audio available. Amazon is now among Tidal and Qobuz who offer lossless music for audiophiles.[12] The HD streaming service was later made available to all unlimited customers for free on May 17, 2021.[13]

  1. ^ a b "Amazon Music Now In Mexico".
  2. ^ "Amazon Music has more than 55 million customers worldwide". About Amazon. January 22, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Amazon.com Launches Public Beta of Amazon MP3
  4. ^ Leeds, Jeff (November 23, 2018). "Free Amazon prime account". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  5. ^ "Amazon Adds Fourth Major Record Label To DRM-Free Music Store". InformationWeek. January 10, 2008. Archived from the original on October 10, 2009. Retrieved January 12, 2008.
  6. ^ Hansell, Saul (January 10, 2008). "Sony Drives Another Nail in the D.R.M. Coffin". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 23, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2008.
  7. ^ "Example of Product with Watermarking". Amazon.
  8. ^ "Amazon lance sa boutique de musique en ligne en France" (in French). AFP. June 10, 2009. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
  9. ^ "Amazon launches MP3 store in Japan".
  10. ^ "Amazon Japan Launches MP3 Store". Archived from the original on December 27, 2012. Retrieved August 21, 2012.
  11. ^ Amazon.com: Help > Digital Products Help > Amazon MP3 Music Downloads > Amazon MP3 Music Terms of Use
  12. ^ Etherington, Darrell (September 17, 2019). "Amazon launches Amazon Music HD with lossless audio streaming". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  13. ^ Silver, Stephen (June 4, 2021). "Amazon Music HD Is Now Free for Unlimited Users: What That Means". MakeUseOf. Retrieved November 16, 2021.