• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

1

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
TechGlobal 500

Here’s How Amazon Music Unlimited Compares to Spotify

By
TIME
TIME
and
Alex Fitzpatrick
Alex Fitzpatrick
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
TIME
TIME
and
Alex Fitzpatrick
Alex Fitzpatrick
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 18, 2016, 1:11 PM ET
Amazon Starts Music Streaming Service Without Universal
The Amazon.com Inc. Prime Music logo is displayed on an Apple Inc. iPhone 5 for a photograph in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, June 12, 2014. Amazon.com Inc. introduced advertising-free music streaming with more than a million songs, ramping up competition against Apple Inc., Spotify Ltd. and Pandora Media Inc. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesDavid Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

I’m a longtime user of Spotify, a streaming music service that, for about $10 a month, offers unlimited access to a music catalog of some 30 million songs. I’ve gone so far as to delete my gigabyte-upon-gigabyte collection of music from my computer and phone, moving it to an external drive to save space. That drive collects a lot of dust in my desk drawer. So long live concert bootlegs.

Spotify has a free tier, but I pay for the advertisement-free version because I stream enough music to make it worthwhile. That said, I’ll hop on any chance to save a few bucks. So when Amazon recently unveiled a streaming service costing $7.99 for Prime subscribers, I figured, why not? (Amazon Music Unlimited costs $9.99 for non-Prime members; Prime costs $99 a year and includes free two-day shipping, among an ever-expanding list of other benefits.)

Amazon Music Unlimited has everything you’d expect from a music streaming service in 2016. For my tastes at least, the library is comparable to Spotify’s. (Amazon says it has “tens of millions” of songs.) Though any service will, obviously, miss anything that’s exclusive to the other major streaming platforms, including Apple Music (AAPL) and Tidal. Amazon has “hand-curated” playlists and stations, and you can download music to your phone over Wi-Fi for offline listening.

If you happen to own one of Amazon’s Echo smart speaker devices, the company’s also offering a $3.99/month plan that’ll only work on your Echo. I don’t totally get what the market for that might be, but if you’ve got an Echo and you mostly or exclusively listen to music at home, it’s an option.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

After about a week of testing Amazon Music Unlimited, am I switching over? Not yet.

Amazon’s (AMZN) music selection is fine. Its app works. And the service streams in a perfectly adequate audio quality. But it can’t yet match Spotify where it really shines: in mood-based playlists and music-discovery tools it’s introduced lately.

I increasingly find myself relying on Spotify’s algorithm- and human-chosen selections when I don’t know exactly what song, artist or album I want to listen to at a given moment. Release Radar in particular is a great feature—a weekly playlist of new music customized for each user based on their past preferences. Spotify also has top-notch playlists for specific moods or times of day, like “Daily Lift” for the post-lunch malaise or “Evening Commute” which is, well, self-explanatory. Amazon is trying to replicate some of these features, but so far it’s falling short. (I should note that the longer you use Amazon’s service, the better its recommendations are likely to get.)

This comes down to personal taste, but I find Amazon’s app design a little generic. Spotify feels like hanging out at that record shop downtown you’re really not cool enough to hang out at. Amazon feels like shopping for CDs at Target (TGT). That said, plenty of people love buying CDs at Target. To be sure, Amazon’s app is likely to be easier to navigate for many than Spotify’s.

Despite these quibbles, it’s good news that Amazon Music Unlimited is presenting a fresh challenge to Spotify. A panoply of streaming services puts pressure on each to keep innovating. Personally I hope competition forces Spotify further down the path of becoming the digital equivalent of that aforementioned record shop. But if you’re comfortably ensconced in the Amazon ecosystem, or a Prime devotee, Music Unlimited is a welcome if imperfect addition to the mix.

This article originally appeared on Time.com.

About the Authors
By TIME
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Alex Fitzpatrick
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Brown University Professor Roberto Serrano, a man in a suit holding onto a gold trophy--the King Of Spain Economy Award"-- before Spain's King Felipe and a painted wall.
AIEducation
‘Humanity has chosen to become idiots’: This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating
By Catherina GioinoJune 29, 2026
3 hours ago
bis
EconomyMarkets
The central bank of central banks just released its flagship annual report — and it sees a $1 trillion AI investment boom headed for a reckoning
By Nick LichtenbergJune 29, 2026
3 hours ago
paralegal
AIdisruption
The most reassuring argument about AI and jobs quietly explains why Gen Z can’t get one
By Nick LichtenbergJune 29, 2026
7 hours ago
This summer’s heat is a live stress test for data centers—here’s what it’s revealing in real time
AIData centers
This summer’s heat is a live stress test for data centers—here’s what it’s revealing in real time
By Tristan BoveJune 29, 2026
7 hours ago
Photo of Jim Farley
AIAutos
Ford on why it hired 350 ‘gray beard’ engineers: you need their mentorship for younger workers — and to drive huge AI productivity gains
By Sasha RogelbergJune 29, 2026
7 hours ago
‘Cop on your wrist’: Wearables offer tons of data, but people are still going to sleep to Netflix and TikTok
HealthBrainstorm Tech
‘Cop on your wrist’: Wearables offer tons of data, but people are still going to sleep to Netflix and TikTok
By Amanda GerutJune 29, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
9 hours ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
5 days ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
3 days ago
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
Environment
The retired college professor fighting a $313 trespassing ticket in Wisconsin thinks he's part of a national struggle
By Catherina GioinoJune 28, 2026
2 days ago
Ex-Google engineer says Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai share the same trait—it's the lesson he swears by as a $7.2 billion AI CEO
Success
Ex-Google engineer says Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Sundar Pichai share the same trait—it's the lesson he swears by as a $7.2 billion AI CEO
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 28, 2026
2 days ago
Cristiano Ronaldo is soccer's first-ever billionaire: He went from begging for burgers outside McDonald's to landing a $400 million contract
Success
Cristiano Ronaldo is soccer's first-ever billionaire: He went from begging for burgers outside McDonald's to landing a $400 million contract
By Preston ForeJune 28, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.