#Amazon Challenges Apple by Adding Hi-Fi to Standard Music Plan at No Extra Cost – Review Geek

On the heels of Apple’s near-identical announcement, Amazon has announced it is making its library of high-fidelity music (from Amazon Music HD) available to all Amazon Music Unlimited customers with no additional cost.

Though Apple isn’t set to begin streaming high-quality lossless audio until June, Amazon’s high-fidelity catalog is available to subscribers immediately. Additionally, Amazon is undercutting other music streaming service competitors price-wise. It’s just $7.99 a month if you’re an Amazon Prime member ($9.99 if not). Apple Music also charges $9.99, but other services like Deezer and Tidal are charging as much as $19.99 for their hi-fi plans. A Spotify HiFi plan is also in the works for later this year, though details aren’t firm on what it will charge, or if Spotify will follow suit like Amazon and Apple.

Amazon Music VP Steve Boom stated, “It’s something we’ve all been wanting to do for a long time. When we launched, we already broke the mold by taking a service that had been $19.99—and really just for the audiophile at that price point—and brought it down to something that was much more mass-market at $14.99.

Currently, Amazon Music HD has over 70 million lossless CD-quality songs available in its 16-bit HD catalog (44.1kHz), and over 7 million 24-bit Ultra-HD songs (48kHz, 96kHz, 192kHz). Current subscribers in the United States, Canada, U.K., Spain, France, Italy, and Germany can now upgrade their individual and family plans, though student plans are excluded from this.

And now with hi-fi tunes being blended into Amazon Music Unlimited, currently users will now see at least $5 cut from their future bills. If you’re an audiophile and a current Amazon Prime customer, now might be the perfect time to sign up for the service.

via Billboard