Amazon Music is reportedly getting a massive change after several users discovered a notice from the company saying it is incorporating ads and removing the downloads feature for Prime members in select regions.
The company seems to be asking for more fees from existing Prime members to get the ad-free and downloadable music streaming experience on its platform despite users previously enjoying this without any additional subscriptions.
Amazon Music Gets Ads, Removes Downloads for Prime Members
According to a post by a user on Reddit, Amazon has begun notifying existing Prime members that they are significantly overhauling Amazon Music as they are taking away most of its premium features. Other Redditors have also attested to getting the same email from Amazon that announces the changes to Music access.
These premium features include the likes of ad-free music streaming and downloads as Amazon announced that paying subscribers will see the opposite of it instead.
This means that despite paying for a monthly Prime subscription, users will get ads in between their music streams or via the home page of the app. Additionally, Prime members' ability to download songs for offline streaming is also being taken away in these latest changes on the Music platform.
Amazon Clarifies Latest Changes on Music Platform
According to Android Authority, an Amazon spokesperson clarified the entire fiasco online, saying that the changes to Amazon Music are supposed to be exclusive to India.
That said, the publication pointed out that the original poster on Reddit actually hails from Australia.
Now, it remains unconfirmed if this change will exclusively apply to India or if Australian users are also affected by this. Moreover, it also remains unclear if this could potentially apply to other regions in the future.
Is This Similar to What Happened to Prime Video?
It has been pointed out that this move sounds all too familiar.
Many Prime members previously enjoyed their subscription. Not only do they get perks in Amazon's e-commerce platform, but they also get access to platforms like Prime Video, Amazon Music, and more.
However, Amazon has previously changed Prime Video's access for members, making the existing access ad-supported despite previously getting the premium experience.
While users still get access to Prime Video's massive library, they are made to sit through ads unless they pay the extra fee to get a "Premium" access that removes the ads, grants Dolby Atmos and Vision, 4K streaming, and more.
Originally published on Tech Times
