But Amazon’s system uses different inputs, such as which song is moving up the charts or getting lots of play on the radio.

The company is also using some smart computing behind the scenes to differentiate the experience. For example, Echo users will be able to ask Alexa to “play the new song by Adele.” Because tracks in an album have the same release date, a simple chronological check wouldn’t do the trick, Redington explained. “Can we get more customers in by providing an entry price point tied to a specific, single Echo device?” “It allows us to really expand the paid streaming music market,” said Ryan Redington, director of Amazon Music, describing the strategy in an interview this week at the company’s newest office tower in Seattle. In a world where people increasingly expect everything to work everywhere, the Echo-only tier might seem out of place, even at less than $4 a month. But Amazon is pitching the option as an add-on experience for Echo owners, going beyond the 2 million tracks available in the existing Amazon Prime Music service that comes with the $99/year Amazon Prime subscription. To use Amazon Music Unlimited on multiple devices, including smartphones, you’ll need to pay $7.99 if you’re an Amazon Prime member, or $9.99 if you’re not.

Cost of amazon music unlimited