[Updated] Amazon Music new update faces major backlash from users

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on November 03, 2022) follows:

Amazon is dramatically expanding the number of songs accessible on its Prime Music streaming service. Previously, just 2 million songs were available to its users; now, 100 million tracks are available.

In addition to music, Amazon Prime Music is introducing ‘hundreds of thousands’ of ad-free podcast episodes for its users.

However, there is a catch.

Even with the all-new expanded song library, Prime members will be limited to shuffle-play mode, based on artists, albums, or playlists on Amazon Music.

This change hasn’t gone down well with its loyal customer base (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) as earlier the 2 million songs were available to stream on-demand.

The new version enables Amazon Prime Music users to listen to all of the tracks but only in shuffle mode. They do not have access to the feature that allows them to listen to a certain song.

This implies that customers must skip through a large number of tracks each time in order to find the ones they need. Playlists also no longer function as they once did.

The app is now total shit. Years of building a music library and now it’s trash. If I would have known they were going to change it I would have just gotten Apple Music. The new Amazon music is now just like pandora but worse.
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Great. Now I have the pleasure of being forced to shuffle through 100 million shitty songs. As if Amazon didn’t already have enough of our money. The new app is horrible.
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Many users are saying that they are unable to listen to their downloaded music in offline mode as well (1,2,3).

Go back. No one asked for this. It’s terrible. I use @amazonmusic offline while I am driving. Woke up this morning to find I’m no longer able to access my downloads while in offline mode. I keep the app in offline mode and never stream. It’s become useless to me. Thanks @amazon
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The issue is that Amazon Music’s ‘skips’ are now limited, so users must pay for unlimited skips. Since the new update pushes people to skip more, the ‘Unlimited skips’ plan is now a necessity rather than option.

Consider it similar to Tinder. Essentially, Amazon Prime Music is now operating like Tinder, with limited right swipes and the need to pay for more.

Even Prime members must pay an extra fee for the ‘Unlimited’ plan ($9.99/month for regular users, $8.99 for Prime members) in order to obtain full on-demand access and offline listening.

Amazon Music users are enraged because they used to have access to all these features that are now behind a paywall after the new update.

Music streaming is already a very competitive market and not providing basic features like these to Prime users(by the way they have already paid for a Prime membership) is a bad move.

01:55 pm (IST): Amazon has a dedicated support page where it has outlined the difference between Shuffle mode and On-demand playback. You can check it out here.

06:29 pm (IST): Amazon support is now redirecting some of those affected by playlists update to their support page that details All-access playlists.

05:12 pm (IST): Those who are unhappy with Amazon Music due to its recent update can switch to any of the following alternatives.

1) Spotify: Free with ads or Premium for $9.99/month
2) YouTube Music: Free with ads or Premium for $11.99/month
3) Apple Music: for $10.99/month
4) TIDAL: Free with standard audio quality or better audio quality and ad-free experience starting at $14.99/month

01:20 pm (IST): Amazon is allegedly offering users 1, 3 and 6 months of free access to the Amazon Music Unlimited plan. This could be a last-minute attempt to win back dissatisfied users.

I opened the app today, thinking maybe for the last time, and I had an offer of 6 months premium for free.
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My customer service rep knew right away what I was talking about and offered me 3 months free for Unlimited.
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12:15 pm (IST): According to one of our readers, you can get a full refund of your prime membership if you call to Amazon support and complain about the situation.

Thanks for the tip, Lee Harrington!

09:35 pm (IST): Those who purchased songs through Amazon Music but no longer want to use the subscription can still opt to download all their previously bought tracks on various devices using these steps.

The big catch here is that you’ll need offline media players like VLC to play those songs.

Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Amazon Section so be sure to follow them as well.

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