By
Godfrey Benjamin
March 22nd, 2024
Amazon customers are in for a real treat with unrestricted access to the Amazon Music HD library where they can stream about 50 million songs with CD audio quality, courtesy of the company.
Amazon Music has done what other major streaming services are yet to do; the inclusion of an “HD” subscription option into its streaming service. Now Amazon Music is in the league of streaming platforms like Qobuz, Tidal, and Deezer, which can boast of high-quality audio options, though these platforms are “smaller” when compared to Amazon Music. The streaming services that are actually comparable to Amazon Music like Apple Music and Spotify are yet to join the high-resolution train.
High-Quality Music Now Available
Customers who subscribe to the HD option on Amazon Music will be able to stream as many songs as they desire, up to 50 million of them. The company promises that these songs will come in the “HD” format, which is basically CD audio quality (16-bit and 44.1 kHz).
It doesn’t end there; the company says that another category of songs will be made available and they will come in the “Ultra HD” format (24-bit and 192 kHz). The songs in this format will number in millions, which more than enough for each customer to enjoy.
For all recordings, FLAC is used for their encoding, which ensures that the audio is preserved and its quality is not tampered with at the end of the compression.
Is Sound Quality Difference Identifiable?
The company has slammed a monthly $12.99 charge on the Amazon Music HD for Amazon Prime members while regular customers will pay $14.99 per month. Subscribers who are already on the individual or Family Plans will be required to add an extra $5 to the monthly fee they are already paying.
Though streaming services enjoy patronage from subscribers all over the world, there is still an ongoing debate about the need for paying for high-quality audio. Many academic pieces of research prove that the average customer cannot tell a low-quality from high-quality audio.
All the same, the fan base of Amazon Music streaming service continues to grow, one of which is Neil Young, an expert in high-quality music streaming. Speaking to the Times. He was quoted saying:
“Earth will be changed forever when Amazon introduces high-quality streaming to the masses. This will be the biggest thing to happen in music since the introduction of digital audio 40 years ago.”
Just as a reminder, Amazon is likely to launch its own digital currency to compete with Facebook’s Libra in the near future.
At the time of writing, AMZN stock is down by -0.28% making $1,817 per share. The company’s market capitalization sits at $899B level.