If you're in need of a streaming music service, and you already have an Amazon Prime subscription, then Amazon Music Prime is a benefit that's just waiting to be explored. The Amazon Prime bonus feature offers more than 2 million songs from Amazon's overall music catalog—no extra subscription required. The service is a good place to stream music and podcasts, but it's clearly a stepping stone to the more robust Amazon Music Unlimited, as it lacks the premium service's full, 60 million-song library.
What You Get With Amazon Music Prime
Amazon Music Prime, a service that's included with an $119-per-year Amazon Prime subscription, gives you just a taste of what Amazon Music Unlimited offers. That said, it's similar in many aspects. The Home section displays a list of podcasts, playlists, and streaming audio stations curated by Amazon. If you've listened to Amazon Music before, this section will contain a compact list of trending songs or podcasts, and algorithmic suggestions. Next to Home is the Library section, a place that highlights your recent listens, created playlists, and previously uploaded songs. Amazon no longer lets you upload your own MP3s to its servers, but if you've done so before, that music is still available to stream.
As with many other streaming music services, Amazon Music Prime has a search bar that lets you look up music and podcasts by artist/creator name, song/show title, or genre. Unfortunately, searching for Led Zeppelin tracks quickly reveals one of Amazon Music Prime's bigger flaws: holes in the catalog. The service has lots of Zeppelin tribute band content, but no music performed by the actual British rockers. You'll need a premium service, such as Amazon Music Unlimited or Spotify, for Zeppelin albums.
The Listening Experience
Amazon Music Prime comes stocked with more than 2,000 themed playlists and stations assembled by the rather pretentiously named collective known as Amazon's Music Experts. We found interesting collections, such as One Hit Wonders, Classical for Reading, and the oddly named 50 Great Epic Classic Rock Songs. Each playlist displays a track listing, the total runtime, and its curator. When you find a track or playlist that you like, you can quickly add the music to Your Music Library (a section where your favorite tracks live) by clicking Add to Library.
