Amazon Music HD, the high-quality streaming tier of Amazon Music, is now available to all eligible Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no extra cost, opening the world of premium quality streaming to more music lovers.
Access to Amazon Music HD allows customers to stream more than 70 million lossless, HD songs, with a bit depth of 16 bits and a sample rate of 44.1kHz (CD quality). Over 7 million songs can also be streamed in Ultra HD (better than HD quality), with a bit depth of 24 bits and a sample rate up to 192kHz, which reveals even more nuances that were once flattened in files compressed for digital streaming.
Since its launch in 2019, more than 5 million songs have been added to its Ultra HD catalogue. With Amazon Music HD, customers also have access to a rapidly growing catalogue of songs remixed in 3D Audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA. Listeners can stream these 3D mixes when listening on Amazon’s hi-fi smart speaker, Echo Studio. Music in 360RA can also be streamed via Amazon Music HD on Sony’s RA5000 and RA3000 speakers by using Alexa Cast.
When Amazon Music HD was launched in 2019, Neil Young said that it was “the biggest thing to happen in music since the introduction of digital audio”.
Steve Boom, vice president of Amazon Music said: “When we first launched Amazon Music HD, our goal was to lead the industry by enabling music fans around the world to stream the best quality recording, the way artists intended their music to be heard. We’re thrilled now to make Amazon Music HD available to everyone at no extra cost. All music fans should have access to this quality of music, and now they do!”
The Amazon Music HD tier was previously an extra £5 per month on top of the Amazon Music Unlimited Individual or Family plan. Subscribers to Amazon Music Unlimited can now upgrade to Amazon Music HD at no extra cost in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, US, and Canada.