Key Takeaways Amazon Music Unlimited is raising its prices for both individual and family plans, with Prime members now paying $9.99 per month and $16.99 per month respectively.
Existing customers will see the price increase from September 19, 2023, while new customers will pay the higher prices immediately.
This price hike follows recent increases by other streaming services like Spotify, YouTube Music, and Apple Music, reflecting the trend of rising subscription charges in the streaming industry.
Following recent price hikes by many popular streaming services, Amazon is joining the bandwagon and increasing the price of its music subscription service. With the price hike, Amazon Music Unlimited’s individual plan will now cost $9.99 per month for Prime members, up from the $8.99 that they were paying until now. The family plan is also getting more expensive, going from $15.99 to $16.99 per month.
People who pay their yearly subscription upfront will also see a hike, with the annual individual plan increasing from $89 to $99, while the annual family plan will now cost $169 instead of $159. Amazon confirmed the revised plans to The Verge, with a company spokesperson telling the publication that the new prices will be applicable to all new customers with immediate effect. As for existing customers, the new prices will come into effect from September 19, 2023.
Amazon’s price hike comes just weeks after both Spotify and YouTube Music raised their subscription charges in the U.S. While the former increased the price of its individual ad-free plan from $9.99 to $10.99, the latter increased the price of its Premium Music plan from $9.99 to $10.99 per month. Apple Music also saw a similar hike late last year, when the company’s individual plan went from $9.99 to $10.99 per month. For Amazon Music Unlimited, it is the second price hike for the service this year, after the company increased the price of its subscription plan for non-Prime members from $9.99 to $10.99 per month in January.
The last few months have seen many streaming services increase their subscription charges as U.S. consumers increasingly move away from conventional television and adopt over-the-top (OTT) content as their primary source of entertainment. Netflix recently removed its $10 Basic plan in the U.S. market, meaning the most affordable tier for the service now is its ad-free Standard plan that’s charged at $15.99. Disney+ also just increased the price of its ad-free subscription tier from $10.99 to $13.99 per month, while Hulu, Peacock and Paramount+ also got price hikes this year, meaning cord-cutting is now more expensive than ever.