Skip to main content

Advertisement

Amazon Music launches in India as a free service for Prime members, available on Android, iOS, and the web (Akhil Arora/NDTV Gadgets 360)

By

Amazon Music has been given a full-scale launch in India, the subscription-based music streaming service that's part of Amazon Prime membership. You can now access it via music.amazon.in, or download the Amazon Music app on Android, iOS, Fire TV, Windows, and Mac. (There's no app for Android TV, sadly.) Previously, Amazon Music was restricted to users of the Amazon Echo smart speaker lineup in India. Notably, Amazon has used 'Amazon Prime Music' branding in some places, however, the actual service and apps are called Amazon Music.

At first start, Amazon Music will ask you to select your music preferences by language: Hindi, English, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, and Rajasthani. It'll use that information to prioritise what you see, but it doesn't act as a filter. That means you'll still see playlists from languages you don't select. If you've already been using Amazon Music on your Echo device, you'll see your playlists and albums in the recently played section.

Since Amazon Music is part of Amazon Prime, it costs Rs. 999 for the full year. That's Rs. 83.25 per month, which makes it more affordable than the big two: Apple Music at Rs. 120 per month, and Google Play Music at Rs. 99 per month. It's different for students: Apple Music is the cheapest at Rs. 60 per month. Amazon Music won't be available as a standalone subscription, and there are no plans for student or family memberships as well, Amazon told Gadgets 360.

Of course, a music streaming service is more than just the price. Both Apple and Google claim around 40-45 million songs in their catalogue, while Amazon India claims "tens of millions of songs" and wouldn't commit to a figure. While Amazon has two options in the US, 2 million songs with Prime Music (part of Amazon Prime), and 40 million songs with Music Unlimited (a standalone service worth $8 per month with Prime, $10 without), Amazon is focusing on a single route in India.

For what it's worth, we were able to find recently released albums, such as Black Panther The Album: Music From and Inspired By, Twin Fantasy by Car Seat Headrest, and All at Once by Screaming Females. On the Bollywood side, new albums such as Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety and the new single Sanu Ek Pal Chain from Raid are available, though we couldn't find the soundtrack for Hichki, which is available on Apple Music.

Amazon India also claims to have done a lot of research on other Indian languages, to help users discover the music they love faster. That's why in the genre section, you'll find options such as Carnatic Classical, Devotional, Ghazals, Hindustani Classical, Rabindra Sangeet, and Sufi & Qawaali in addition to the usual ones.

Commenting on the launch, Sahas Malhotra, director of Amazon Music India, said in a statement: “We believe music listeners are going to love Amazon Prime Music as we bring a global service that’s been truly localised in its selection and curation. With ad-free streaming at no additional cost to Prime members, Amazon Prime Music offers a welcome break from text and voice ads that come between you and your favourite music.”

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Comments

Post a Comment

Facebook

Ads

Popular posts from this blog

President Ram Nath Kovind lauds Narednra Modi government’s campaigns to promote health and education for...

By
President Ram Nath Kovind lauds Narednra Modi government’s campaigns to promote health and education for... President Ram Nath Kovind said some people in our country were unable to understand the importance of daughters. President Ramnath Kovind Saturday lauded the Prime Minister Narendra Modi -led central government’s awareness campaign to promote health and education for women and girl’s. While inaugurating an international workshop of the Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Society of India (FOGSI), organised at the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical (GSVM) college, President Kovind said even though daughters faced more restrictions than sons, they were surging ahead in many areas. Kovind said some people in our country were unable to understand the importance of daughters. Speaking about the Centre’s initiatives for women, he said, “I am happy that the central government’s schemes like ‘beti bachao, beti padhao’, ‘sukanya samriddhi’ and ‘kishori yojna’ etc., are chang...
Post a Comment
Read more

ISRO shortlists 15 firms for transfer of EV battery tech

By
ISRO shortlists 15 firms for transfer of EV battery tech This move could make EVs cheaper, since imported Li ion batteries constitute the big expense factor of EVs. Isro has shortlisted 15 firms to transfer the manufacturing technology of lithium-ion (Li ion) batteries for electric vehicles (EV). This move could make EVs cheaper, since imported Li ion batteries constitute the big expense factor of EVs. “We have communicated to the shortlisted firms that they will have to give a one-time fee of `1 crore. We have avoided firms with exposure to foreign equity in identifying the qualifying industrial houses or start-ups,” S Somanath, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the rocket sciences node of ISRO, told FE. “The final move will depend on their response,” he said, declining to name the firms. As many as 141 companies had applied for request for qualifications (RFQs) in connection with the technology transfer. It was a small battery of 12 scientists in VSSC in Thiruvananth...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sóller hike followed by a healthy vegan lunch

By
We got a group of friends together (of various ages and fitness levels) to hike around the hills surrounding the Mallorcan town of Sóller, in the northwest of the island. There are many quite easy trails but usually, it involves a bit of hiking up and downhill. We began our walk at the first roundabout after the tunnel and climbed for about 25 minutes uphill after that it was reasonably flat for the next hour or so. The final part was decent into the town of Sóller where we had booked a private vegan brunch for our group. Barbara and Martjin opened Ecocirer in March 2018 as a vegan hotel with 6 bedrooms in the town of Sóller. It is the ideal accommodation for a family celebration if you would like to enjoy healthy vegan food with plenty of activities to get you out into the beautiful nature surrounding the picturesque town. The expe...
Post a Comment
Read more