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Amazon Prime informs users that ads will start playing for subscribers of Amazon Music in some markets, after introducing them in Prime Video in 2024.
Amazon Prime has been a subscription service loaded with benefits for years, including free shipping, premium video content, music streaming, and even gaming. But just two years after the company introduced ads to Prime Video, Amazon is rolling out ads in Amazon Music for some markets, including Australia and India.
Amazon Music Prime is included with a Prime membership and currently allows users to shuffle play without ads. For more control over their listening, users can get Music Standard or Music Unlimited, which come with more benefits for an additional subscription.
But now, users in India and Australia have reported receiving an email from the company informing them of some changes. Amazon has confirmed to Android Authority that this news is specific to Amazon Music offerings in India only, but users in Australia have received a similar email.
The email notes that ads will be included as of Tuesday, June 2, and that users who want to “continue listening ad-free and offline with HD and Spatial Audio” should try Amazon Music Unlimited.
It’s worth mentioning that Amazon is launching Music Unlimited for the first time in India, which explains why they’re capitalizing on the chance to bring ads to the basic Music Prime offering.
“Amazing how every downgrade is marketed as a benefit these days,” writes one user on Reddit. “Prime members paid for a service that included ad-free music and offline listening, and now those features are being stripped out and sold back through a more expensive subscription. Corporate greed disguised as a product update.”
“What’s next? Probably Audible will also get these [ads],” comments another Redditor. “Such a greedy move.”
For now, subscribers in North America can breathe easy; the current rollout definitely doesn’t pertain to users in Canada, Mexico, or the United States—at least not yet. Obviously, the door remains open for the introduction of ads in other countries. Based on similar trends across the streaming industry, it seems likely that such changes will be on the horizon in more regions.
