New York, NY (Top40 Charts) (NASDAQ: AMZN) Amazon
Music today announced the launch of Amazon
Music HD, a new tier of premium quality music with more than 50 million songs in High Definition, and millions of songs in Ultra High Definition, the highest quality streaming audio available. At just $12.99/month for Prime members and $14.99/month for Amazon customers, or an additional $5/month for current subscribers (Individual or Family Plan), Amazon
Music HD makes high quality, lossless audio accessible to all music fans. Amazon
Music HD is now available to stream in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan. New subscribers to Amazon
Music can receive a 90-day free trial, and current subscribers can try Amazon
Music HD at no additional cost for 90 days at amazon.com/music/unlimited/hd.
"We spoke with many artists while developing Amazon
Music HD, who were excited about the potential for fans to be able to stream their favorite music, and hear it as it was originally recorded," said Steve Boom, VP of Amazon Music. "From rock to hip-hop to classical and pop, we believe listening to music at this level of sound will make customers fall in love again with their favorite music and artists. As we usher in a new listening experience for our customers and the industry, we're combining the convenience of streaming with all of the emotion, power, clarity and nuance of the original recordings."
Amazon
Music HD will always offer customers the best quality recording available for streaming, providing an unparalleled listening experience. Legendary albums including Fleetwood Mac's Rumors and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue become revelatory new experiences, almost as if the listener is sitting in on these storied studio sessions. Songs like Kendrick Lamar's "
Alright" and St. Vincent's "Digital Witness", are also now available in Ultra HD, revealing nuances that were once flattened in files compressed for digital streaming.
"Earth will be changed forever when Amazon introduces high quality streaming to the masses," said rock icon Neil Young. "This will be the biggest thing to happen in music since the introduction of digital audio 40 years ago."
Amazon
Music HD offers customers more than 50 million lossless HD songs, with a bit depth of 16 bits and a sample rate of 44.1kHz (CD quality). In addition, customers can stream millions more songs in Ultra HD (better than CD quality), with a bit depth of 24 bits and a sample rate up to 192 kHz.
Amazon
Music HD will play the highest quality audio the customer's device and network conditions will support, and is compatible with a wide variety of devices, including desktop, mobile (iOS & Android), select Echo devices, Fire TV, and Fire Tablets. Amazon
Music HD is also compatible with many third-party devices, including most products from Denon and Marantz with HEOS Built-in, Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, Sonos, McIntosh, Sennheiser, and many more. To learn more about Amazon
Music HD, visit amazon.com/music/unlimited/hd.
About Amazon Music
Amazon
Music reimagines music listening by enabling customers to unlock millions of songs and thousands of curated playlists and stations with their voice. Amazon
Music provides unlimited access to new releases and classic hits through multiple streaming tiers. With Amazon Music, Prime members have access to ad-free listening of 2 million songs at no additional cost to their membership. Listeners can also enjoy Amazon
Music Unlimited, which provides access to more than 50 million songs and the latest new releases. Amazon
Music HD, a new tier of the highest quality streaming audio, offers more than 50 million songs in High Definition, and millions of songs in Ultra High Definition. Customers with Echo devices also have free access to an ad-supported selection of top playlists and stations on Amazon Music. Engaging with music has never been more natural, simple, and fun. For more information, visit amazonmusic.com or download the Amazon
Music app.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
