Amazon Music hits users with yet another price hike

Alexa play, "She take my dinero."

Amazon Music

Amazon Music subscribers are in for a bit of bad news. The e-commerce giant has announced it will increase the price of some of its music subscription plans starting next month.

Starting February 21, the cost of a Music Unlimited subscription will rise to £10.99 per month for an individual plan, up from £9.99 currently. Students will also have less pocket change with a jump from £4.99 to £5.99 monthly, and the news comes soon after other recent increases. In May 2022 Amazon’s subscription jumped from £7.99 to £8.99, before increasing again to £9.99 before year’s end.

Thinking of getting a new subscription or currently enjoying Music Unlimited on a discounted trial or promotional offer? Well, there’s bad news there, too, as Amazon will only honour that price for one month. Cancellation is always an option, though if you don’t you’re in for a surprise as new pricing will take effect upon the next billing cycle.

The price hikes are most likely attributed to rising inflation, a fragile global economy and even looming recession fears. The tech industry is facing a sharp decline in consumer spending, with many leading tech sectors including Amazon taking drastic measures to meet their bottom line by decreasing workforce and diversifying portfolios.

The grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side either, with Spotify rumoured to get its very own price bump in 2023, after remaining steadfastly at £9.99 since its inception. At least that’s according to reports.

Nonetheless, casual listeners on Spotify can still enjoy its free with ads option, while Amazon Prime users get access to two million songs via Prime Music’s shuffle play option. You’ll soon have to fork out that little bit more for unlimited access to its almost 100-million song catalogue. Them’s the breaks.