Roku users who also use Amazon Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited services will be thrilled to know that Amazon has finally updated the Amazon Music channel on Roku. Actually, "updated" is an understatement - Amazon has created an entirely new app, although the old app will automatically update to the current version on your Roku devices.
The old Amazon Music channel hadn't been updated in years. You could stream only digital music that you purchased through Amazon and music that you uploaded to the now-retired cloud-based Amazon Music Storage service. Amazon Prime members had no access to the Prime Music service included in their prime membership, and subscribers to the premium Amazon Music Unlimited service were also left out.
This week, though, Amazon quietly rolled out a new channel that provides access to both services. And any tracks that you have in Amazon Music Storage are still available as well. Here are some of the highlights of the new Amazon Music channel on Roku:
- Song lyrics are displayed on-screen while a song is playing
- Playlist, album, song, and station recommendations based on your music preferences
- Browse top playlists, top albums, top songs, and top stations
- Browse new playlists, albums, and songs
- Select music recently added or played from any device
- Browse "My Music" by artist, album, playlist, genre, and song
- Search for albums, artists, songs, and playlists
See our Amazon Music channel page for a full review of the new app.
Roku has no shortage of music channels, but Amazon Music is one of the few top "premium" music services on Roku, along with Pandora and the less-popular Deezer. Spotify removed their app from Roku in December 2017, and Play Music never had a Roku presence (although a private channel did, for a time, provide access to Google Music). But those who don't use Amazon's music services can find several other well-known music services like Slacker, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, and even SiriusXM, along with independent free music channels like my favorite, SomaFM.
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