A.I.-Powered Amazon Music Unlimited Rolls Out
Applications like Spotify and Apple Music have been providing millions of songs for audiophiles and now are facing new on-demand streaming competition from Amazon.
Amazon Music Unlimited complements the current Amazon Prime Music in servicing listeners with “tens of millions” of songs found in Amazon’s music library.
What separates Amazon Music Unlimited from its competitors is Alexa, Amazon’s own A.I. voice assistant, which can now be used to power the music-streaming service, as well as the Amazon Echo speakers.
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By using the Amazon Echo speakers, a subscriber is able to control the service via his or her voice. Alexa will put together a playlist based on the user’s search parameters. For example, if the user requests for music by AC/DC, Alexa would proceed to compile a list of AC/DC’s most popular songs into a playlist. Alexa can also identify songs just via parts of the song’s lyrics.
As Alexa is a digital assistant that is based on artificial intelligence, Alexa will be capable of machine learning. Machine learning allows Alexa to learn the listening habits and music preferences of the user. As the user relies more on Alexa, Alexa would be able to learn more about the user.
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Alexa would then be able to use this data to make recommendations of various bands and artists, as well as automatically create custom playlists that meshes well with the user’s listening habits.
Pricing for Amazon Music Unlimited is similar to many other music streaming services in that it is tier-based. That said, the tiering for this service is pretty unique. The price scheme is as follows:
- USD9.99 per month for a standard individual plan
- USD7.99 per month or USD79 per year for an individual plan if the user is an active Amazon Prime user
- USD3.99 per month for an Echo plan. This allows you to use the service on a single Amazon Echo, Echo Tap, or Amazon Tap device.
- USD14.99 per month or USD149 per year for a Family plan. Allows up to six family members to utilise a single Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. Will be available soon.
The implementation of Alexa into Amazon Music Unlimited is an interesting experiment on Amazon’s side, and it could prove to be the dealmaker for Amazon’s newborn music streaming service. Currently, the service is limited to the U.S., so those living outside the States are going to have to wait a while before Amazon starts rolling out the service globally.