Amazon Music has launched Amazon Music Unlimited, a paid subscription tier, in India.
The tier costs INR ₹99 (roughly USD $1 at current exchange rates) per month for Prime members and ₹119 per month for non-Prime users.
Amazon announced the launch on Tuesday (June 2), restructuring its music offering in India into three tiers.
Those tiers are the new Amazon Music Unlimited, the service bundled with Prime membership, and an ad-supported Free tier that is set to launch on July 2.
Amazon Music Unlimited offers ad-free, on-demand access to more than 100 million songs, along with podcasts.
It also includes HD, Ultra HD and Spatial Audio – including Dolby Atmos – along with offline downloads.
The tier offers “high-quality and spatial audio, ad-free listening and offline downloads, introducing even more choice for music listeners,” Amazon said in its announcement.
Amazon said the formats let listeners “hear music the way artists intended.”
The launch also changes the music benefit included with a Prime membership in India.
Amazon Music remains part of Prime at no extra cost, with on-demand access to the same catalog of more than 100 million songs and podcasts.
From July 2, the Prime tier will include limited advertising and stop supporting offline downloads.
Ad-free listening and offline downloads were previously included for Prime members in India.
“The three tiers make it simple to find the right experience, whether that’s the most premium audio experience available with the new Amazon Music Unlimited, or a great on-demand catalog included with Prime membership,” Amazon said.
Amazon said the Free tier will offer the full catalog through an ad-supported experience with limited features.
To mark the launch, Amazon is offering Prime members a six-month free trial of Unlimited, after which the subscription renews at ₹99 per month.
Non-Prime users can try Unlimited free for three months, followed by ₹119 per month.
In India, the recorded music industry has flagged the market as skewed toward free, ad-supported listening.
Just 20 million of India’s 192 million music streaming users paid for subscriptions, according to figures published last year by trade body IFPI.
Those 192 million users represent around 13% of India’s population, IFPI noted.
IFPI CEO Victoria Oakley used a keynote in Mumbai to name “growing paid streaming” as a priority for the market, urging a shift “away from ad-funded models toward a value-driven, subscription-led future.”
Amazon‘s pricing sits below that of rival Spotify in the same market.
Spotify in November launched its “Premium Platinum” tier in India and four other markets, carrying lossless audio and AI-powered features, at ₹299 per month.
Spotify’s “Premium Standard” tier in India costs ₹199 per month, with a “Premium Lite” option at ₹139.
That made India one of five markets where Spotify placed lossless audio behind its top tier, even as it rolled the feature out to standard Premium subscribers across more than 50 other markets.
Globally, Amazon Music is the fourth-largest music streaming service – or third excluding China’s Tencent Music – according to a report from research firm MIDiA.
In the US, by contrast, Amazon raised Music Unlimited prices in February, with individual plans reaching $12.99 per month.Music Business Worldwide
