Ask RokuGuide: Can I Get Amazon Prime Music on Roku?

July 26, 2014 - 09:11 -- RokuGuide

Amazon Prime Music on Roku In today's Ask RokuGuide we address Amazon's new Prime Music service.

"Dear RokGuide, I was excited when Amazon added the Prime Music service to my Amazon Prime membership. Amazon Cloud Player lets me use my Roku to listen to music I own, but I don't see Prime Music in that Roku app or in the Amazon Instant Video channel. Can I get Amazon's Prime Music using my Roku?"

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Amazon recently beefed up the benefits available to those who subscribe to their Amazon Prime program. In addition to free two-day shipping and free access to over 40,000 movies and TV shows, Amazon recently launched Prime Music, an ad-free music service with over a million songs from top artists. You can set up your own playlists and either stream the songs or download them for later listening on Kindle Fire, iOS, Android, PC and Mac devices. But what about Roku devices?

Amazon currently has two channels (or apps) in the Roku Channel Store. Amazon Instant Video offers Roku users the ability to watch thousands of movies and TV shows. Many of these are free to Amazon Prime members, but all are available for rental or purchase whether you're a Prime subscriber or not. The other Amazon channel is the Amazon Cloud Player. If you purchase MP3 songs from Amazon, you can choose to download them, but you can also stream them to any device where you have the Cloud Player app installed, including your Roku.

The Amazon Cloud Player was recently updated on many devices to include Prime Music access. Unfortunately, Amazon has not updated its Cloud Player on Roku to offer this service. Amazon only has this to say about it: "Prime Music is not supported on Roku at this time. Only purchased, AutoRip, and imported music is available. Prime Music that you've added to your personal playlists will not be shown, but the rest of the playlist will play normally."

There isn't any speculation on when, or even if, Amazon will add Prime Music to their Roku app. They did update their Android app to include it, so that's a good sign that they'll extend it to other non-Amazon devices as well. However, Amazon has always been slow with Roku updates. Their Prime Instant Video channel was far behind other Roku video services in offering basics like a watch list, and they had a notoriously poor user interface long after Netflix, Hulu Plus, and others updated their channels. For now, Amazon Prime members will have to enjoy their Prime Music sans Roku.

Do you have questions about Roku devices, channels, or content? Send your questions to Ask RokuGuide using our contact form. RokuGuide is not affiliated with Roku, Inc. If you need technical support for your Roku device or help with your Roku account, please contact Roku Technical Support.