Skip to main content

Amazon Music will play ads, remove downloads for some Prime members [U]

Amazon Music is an underrated Prime perk, offering ad-free music streaming as an alternative to Spotify and other paid services. Or, at least it was, as Amazon is now updating Amazon Prime Music to include ads unless users pay extra.


Update: Amazon says this is supposed to be exclusive to India, though Android Authority points out that the Reddit user in question recieved the notice in Australia. For the time being, it probably doesn’t apply to other regions.


In a notice sent to Prime Music users, Amazon explains that it will start playing ads and remove the ability to download content for offline use through the “Amazon Prime Music” benefit. Those features will now be exclusive to Amazon Music Unlimited, a separate paid subscription. HD and Spatial Audio will also be removed from the Prime benefit.

The change kicks in on July 2, 2026.

Advertisement - scroll for more content

On a support page that has yet to be updated, Amazon touts that Prime Music offers “All the music ad-free.”

This isn’t the first time that Amazon has made this change to a Prime benefit. In 2024, Amazon Prime Video started showing ads unless users paid extra, and Amazon actually made the ad-free add-on more expensive earlier this year. Unlike that change, though, there doesn’t seem to be any ad-free add-on for Music users are just being forced into the full $9.99/month cost of Amazon Music Unlimited.

More on Amazon:

Follow Ben: Twitter/XThreads, Bluesky, and Instagram

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

Find him on Twitter @NexusBen. Send tips to schoon@9to5g.com or encrypted to benschoon@protonmail.com.