Thanks to Alexa, the Amazon Fire TV line of devices have shared many features with the Amazon Echo line of devices. With the announcement of the new Fire TV Cube, Amazon has blurred the lines between those devices more than ever. That’s why, starting June 21st, when the Fire TV Cube ships, all Fire TVs, Fire TV Sticks, and Fire TV Edition televisions will become eligible for the significantly cheaper $3.99 Amazon Music Unlimited plan that is currently only available to Echo devices.
Amazon’s Music Unlimited streaming service, which includes significantly more songs than the Prime Music service that comes with being a Prime member, offers several different subscription plans. Depending on if you’re a student, a Prime member, an individual, or part of a family that all wants to stream music, the price of the service will vary. The cheapest of all the plans is the Echo plan which is only available to owners of an Echo device.
At just $3.99 per month, the Echo plan, which will soon be the Echo and Fire TV plan, sounds like a great deal compared to the usual $9.99 prices you’ll pay with Spotify or other equivalent music services. There is one major catch, however, and that is that the $3.99 plan can only be used on a single device. I don’t mean a single device at a time, but, literally, only one device can be assigned to ever play music through the service.
When the $3.99 plan becomes available to all Fire TV devices on June 21st, the same limitation will apply. The Fire TV device that you use to sign up for the plan will be the only device that can play Amazon Music Unlimited tracks. If you’re a Prime member, you’ll still have access to Prime Music from all of your other devices, but one Fire TV or Echo will have access to Music Unlimited tracks if you sign up for the service.
Come June 21st, to sign up for the $3.99 plan from a Fire TV, just say “Alexa, try Amazon Music Unlimited” from the Fire TV you want to use the service through. If you’re already an Amazon Music Unlimited subscriber and want to switch to the $3.99 plan, you can say “Alexa, downgrade Amazon Music” from the device you want to use for music playback. If you ever want to switch which device is assigned to play music, the easiest way seems to be to say “Alexa, upgrade Amazon Music” on the device that is currently assigned and then say “Alexa, downgrade Amazon Music” from the new device you want to switch the plan to.
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Couple questions… isn’t there a flavor the free for a 3 month trial right now? which one? Also one device seems impossible to me, I could be in one of 3 rooms or my back porch(4 echos/dots) when I want to hear a certain song or album. So I could only use that command with a pre-chosen single echo / room? I don’t like that at all.
To do what you seem to want (play on any device, which includes phones and computers, btw, but limited to one stream at a time), you would need the Individual Plan. You can also use Multi-Room Music with the Individual Plan.
I hope that we will eventually be able to include FireTV devices in multi-room music groups! Realize that isn’t rolling out yet, but maybe someday.
Hoping for that as well!
What about if you already subscribe to the Amazon Unlimited Music, will you see a price cut?
You can choose to downgrade if you want. Instructions are in the last paragraph of the article, but since you didn’t read that, I’m guessing you also didn’t read that going with the $3.99 plan will limit you to only play on a single Fire TV ever.
:-)
You got me. I was reading your article and replying to a work email.
Appreciate the reply.
Doesn’t Amazon Music have a limit of 10 devices?
That’s the only reason I haven’t added my FireTVs (and Rokus) to my music service.
Yes, the 10 devices per account limit is still in place. It might be possible to get around it using the family plan since that plan allows for 6 accounts. The 10 device limit might be per account so you’d have up to 60 devices with 6 accounts total.
Do any of the plans offer a 90 day trial? Or has that ended?
One device lame. They finally get the price point worth it but 7.99 for all my dots is too much for as much as I use it
Need a smartphone with HDMI input and set up a wifi hotspot for the stick. Need some way to make $3.99 per month mobile.
I don’t see this as a genius marketing plan. If I could use it on all my devices it’s a no brainer but that kinda sucks. If I use it on my bedroom echo, I can’t use it on my living room echo?
This is probably a loophole that never came to be or will be closed up fast, but what about Music Everywhere?
Suppose I use my echo music unlimited device to play on the everywhere group? Does it work?
I thought Amazon’s m.o. was to get you hooked because its really cheap then gradually raise the price. In the meantime they cut into their competitor’s business…not this time.
Their “modus operandi” is now to encapsulate you in their proprietary hardware, software, sales and services. Often people don’t even google anymore for stuff to buy, they go directly to amazon. I am sure many people don’t shop around for streaming services anymore either.
Nothing beats Spotify with a family plan and shared costs, without being limited to certain devices.
If you want to be able to play AMU on any device (Echos, FireTV, phones, laptops, etc.) then the lowest-priced plan that would accommodate your needs is the Individual Plan. You’re limited to one stream at a time, but that does work for multi-room music groups of Echo devices. FireTV devices still can’t be part of a multi-room music group. The Individual Plan is $7.99/month for Prime members and $9.99/month otherwise.
And yes, the Echo Plan is strictly tied to one specific device. That’s the only device that can use it.