RALEIGH, NC (PTA) - Amazon launched a new tier for their popular music streaming platform today, called Amazon Music HD. Consider augmenting your streaming subscription by supporting artists in other ways.Have audiophile music streaming platforms given Amazon Music a road-map to improve their #3 position as one of the top three music streaming giants? Those acts are seeing pennies on their streaming statements.Ĭancelling all your streaming accounts is one solution, but that doesn’t really help artists or songwriters, either. Things are much different for emerging artists, your old favorites from 90s alternative rock, or hip hop. If you’re an artist at the top of the charts-Taylor Swift or The Weeknd, or one of the best-loved catalog acts (The Beatles or Led Zeppelin)-streaming royalties are a lucrative source of income. The overwhelming majority of streams at all the music services are from a handful of current hit acts. And that’s not even counting the live TV content you can’t get with just a TV antenna. If you subscribed to Netflix ($15.49), Disney+ ($8), Prime Video ($8.99), HBO Max ($14.99), Paramount+ ($4.99), Apple TV+ ($4.99), Hulu ($6.99), Peacock ($4.99), Showtime ($10.99), Criterion Channel ($9.99), Starz ($8.99), and Epix ($5.99), you’d be at just over $105 per month and still have just a sliver of all the movies and shows available to rent or buy in digital format. Results were consistent across each streaming platform with each headphone.Ĭompare music streaming to movie and television services. How we test music streaming servicesįor Bluetooth wireless listening, I used Beats Studio 3 over-ear headphones, Apple AirPods Pro, and Astell&Kern’s excellent new AK UW100 earbuds. Finally, our Apple Music Voice review, by Jonathan Takiff, revealed that service to be a good value, but it comes with too many restrictions: For starters, it’s an iOS-only service you can’t use it with Alexa, Android, Google Assistant, or Sonos. Our Amazon Music Unlimited review brought that service closer to making the cut, but it just isn’t as plugged into the contemporary music scene as our top picks. Our Deezer review led to the same conclusion.

Well, almost every other major streaming service now offers lossless-or better-streaming, so Spotify’s audio quality is no longer up to snuff. With its massive user base and impressive music recommendation engine, you might have expected our Spotify review to place it higher on our list.

Where’s my favorite music streaming service?ĭon’t see your favorite streaming service listed above? Rest assured, we’ve probably reviewed it-and found it wanting.

Amazon music streaming quality