On Tuesday, the music streaming arm of e-commerce giant Amazon took a step ahead of competitors like Apple Music, Spotify, and TIDAL by becoming the first streaming platform to offer high-definition, “lossless audio.”
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Branded as Amazon Music HD, the high-definition listening upgrade to the pre-existing Amazon Music is now available in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan for a manageable monthly fee of $14.99.
A statement shared via press release reads, “Amazon Music HD provides customers with the best quality recording available for streaming [CD-quality at 16-bit/44.1kHz], with more than 50 million songs in High Definition, and millions of songs in Ultra HD, the highest quality streaming audio available.”
Amazon Music users can upgrade their existing subscription plan to the HD service for an additional $5 per month. The monthly cost for those who already have an Amazon Prime subscription can also upgrade to the HD service for $12.99 per month.
While some artists have been very clear about their opposition to the business practices of streaming platforms, Neil Young seems to be all-in on the arrival of Amazon Music’s new high-fidelity upgrade.
“Earth will be changed forever when Amazon introduces high-quality streaming to the masses,” Young said in a quote included in Amazon’s press release. “This will be the biggest thing to happen in music since the introduction of digital audio 40 years ago.”
Artists like The Raconteurs are already teaming up with Amazon Music HD to share exclusive new releases. The rock band exclusively shared two new recordings to the streaming platform on Tuesday.
Learn more about Amazon Music HD and signing up for a free 90-day trial for the new service here.
[H/T Brooklyn Vegan]
