Alongside Apple’s announcement of Logic Pro 10.7 with integrated support of Dolby Atmos, Amazon has announced a new Music Unlimited streaming plan, which offers spatial audio support for any pair of headphones. We have the details…
Music Unlimited
Amazon Music announced that subscribers to its Unlimited tier can now stream music mixed in spatial audio on more devices than ever before, including iOS and Android devices using their existing headphones, as well as selected devices that support Alexa Cast. Steve Boom, vice president of Amazon Music told us…
“We’ve always believed that the highest-quality audio possible should be the norm for streaming music, and that’s why today, we’re making spatial audio available to our customers without any special equipment needed, and no upgrade required. We can’t wait for even more fans around the world to be able to hear the vibrancy and nuance of music in spatial audio with just their favorite headphones, and discover new details in the albums they love for the very first time.”
With an Amazon Music Unlimited plan, subscribers will be able to enjoy music mixed in Sony’s 360 Reality Audio and Dolby Atmos. You can already enjoy Alicia Keys’ full catalogue in 360 Reality Audio, including classic albums like Songs in A Minor and Girl on Fire. Alica Keys says…
“Over the last year, my engineer Ann Mincieli and I worked passionately to reimagine my catalogue in 360 Reality Audio, a process that found us poring through music we love endlessly! Making these spatial audio mixes revealed unforgettable moments—little details that define a song but tend to hide in the mix. I’m so proud of the results, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love all over again with my music in 360 Reality Audio on Amazon Music.”
In November, Amazon Music has announced that they will exclusively release Mercury – Act 1, a brand-new EP from Imagine Dragons, mixed in Dolby Atmos. The five-track EP will feature music from the band’s album release Livestream, which was recorded from the rooftop of the Amazon Music office in Brooklyn. Imagine Dragons explains…
"We recorded our new album Mercury - Act I with Rick Rubin at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, and it's great to have a new avenue for people to experience the space and depth in those rooms through these new Dolby Atmos mixes. We're excited to share our first acoustic live EP of some of these tracks, that we recorded with Amazon Music.”
Supported Devices
Until now, Amazon customers could only hear spatial audio tracks if they owned Amazon’s $200 Echo Studio smart speaker. Now in addition to being able to listen with their existing headphones, customers can stream spatial audio with Alexa Cast on select devices, these include…
Sony SRS-RA5000 or SRS-RA3000 wireless speaker
Home theatre systems such as HT-A9, HT-A7000, or HT-A5000.
Later this year, Amazon Unlimited subscribers will also be able to hear music mixed in Dolby Atmos on the Sonos Arc and Beam (Gen 2) soundbars when streaming Amazon Music from the Sonos app.
Supported Amazon Plans
Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers with an Individual, Family, or Student Plan will now automatically have access to spatial audio and to HD and Ultra HD music at no extra cost to their subscription. Previously this access was only available as a separate tier of streaming, but Amazon has done away with this meaning that all subscribers can now stream high-quality music, although Amazon doesn’t publish the number of spatial audio tracks that its subscribers can access they do list some highlights including albums from Coldplay, Lil Nas X, Pink Floyd, Alicia Keys, and P!NK,
Free 3 Month Trial
For a limited time, new customers can also now experience premium-quality streaming audio free for three months when they subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited.
Pricing
Amazon Music Unlimited Individual Plans are available for $7.99 per month for Prime members and $9.99/month for Amazon customers.
Family Plan customers can stream Amazon Music Unlimited on up to six devices for $14.99 per month.
What Will This Mean?
This is great news for anyone considering producing music in Dolby Atmos or Sony 360 Reality Audio. It gives another major platform that consumers can enjoy Spatial Audio on.
What is not clear yet is whether Amazon’s Spatial Audio format is the same or different to Apple’s Spatial Audio.
We expect services with AvidPlay, that can already deliver Dolby Atmos content to the major streaming services to be able to support Amazon’s Spatial Audio very soon and as soon as we have more information we will bring it to you.