Remember Amazon's announcement Tuesday that Prime members would get free access to ad-free podcasts and a library of 100 million songs?
Slashdot reader ayjaym canceled their Amazon Prime subscription. The albums that were available on Prime Music previously can only be played in random order. While playing a song, you cannot skip forward or back. You can't listen to classical music if you have great works chopped up and shuffled into a random order.
A headline at Inc. magazine says Amazon's change "Is Making Everyone Angry."
"Hey Alexa, play Taylor Swift's Anti-Hero," used to be a simple thing you might say. When you did, your Echo would do exactly that. It would play Taylor Swift's newest song as long as it was in the catalog of songs available. Now, however, that's not what happens at all. If you're lucky, Alexa will start playing songs from Midnights, Swift's latest album. That, however, is not a given. It might play some of her older songs. It might start playing songs from other artists instead. Why does Amazon think anyone wants this? Here's why: It's cheaper for a streaming service to not let you choose the song you want, but to let you give it an input and start playing similar music. Also, because Amazon clearly sees Amazon Music as a thing you use in the background when you just want music playing as you do other things.... If what you want to do is listen to Taylor Swift's latest album, you're going to have to choose Apple Music or Spotify Premium, both of which charge more than $10 a month, or Amazon Music Unlimited, which is $8.99 per month. 80% of people won't do that according to Amazon. They will not pay a monthly fee to stream music. Even if it means giving up the ability to choose a song, they will still use a free service. That's not what Amazon had done before.
Inc's conclusion? "If you give someone a thing as a benefit because they gave you money for your $140 a year subscription membership, it's not great if you suddenly make that thing dramatically worse and expect them to pay you more to make it a better experience."
It's probably better to think of Music Prime as a Pandora-like service, where you pick an artist or genre you like and let Amazon sort out which songs you like. If you're streaming Music Prime to an Amazon device, it will time out after an hour if you don't do anything. You're going to have to keep asking if you're going to throw a party and ask Alexa to play music. Music Prime sound quality is available in "standard" definition, whereas Music unlimited subscribers get access to "HD" and "Ultra HD" tracks depending on how each album is mastered spatial audio is said to add space, clarity, and depth that is not achieved with traditional stereo music. He's far out.
Deep in the fine print of the Amazon Music FAQ, you'll find a couple more options. There's also a $4.99-a-month "single device" plan, and a "Family Plan" offering six accounts for $14.99 a month. But Amazon is apparently offering its biggest savings to students enrolled in a degree-granting college or university, with a sharply discounted "Amazon Music Unlimited for Students" program.
