Getting set up to download music from Amazon Music
To download music from Amazon Music, you must first open the app on your phone or computer and sign in with the Amazon account you use for shopping or streaming. If you see a banner offering thousands of songs with your Prime membership, you are on the free Prime Music tier. This lets you stream but only allows downloads of All-Access Playlists for offline listening within the app. To unlock the ability to download songs, albums, and playlists for offline listening and to buy individual songs, you will need to upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited, which costs extra per month. Many users discover a charge for Amazon Music on their credit card statement only after they accidentally started a free trial. Check your subscription status in the app’s settings menu under “Account.” If you ever need to stop the subscription completely, you can shut off Amazon Music from the same settings page. Any downloaded songs will stop playing once the billing cycle ends. The simplest way to avoid surprises is to confirm your tier before you attempt to access Amazon Music for offline listening. Trying to save a track while on the free tier will simply give you an error message rather than a download button. Prime membership only allows downloads of All-Access Playlists for offline listening within the app before prompting the Unlimited upsell.
Playing, buying, and customizing your music
Once you’ve settled into the right tier, Prime Music or Amazon Music Unlimited, playback is straightforward. Tap the play button on any track, and the app takes over. To loop a single track or an entire playlist, open the now-playing screen and look for the repeat icon. That’s how you can repeat a song on Amazon Music. If you hear something you want to keep permanently, you can buy a song on Amazon Music directly from the album or track menu. This purchase lives in your digital locker and plays even after your subscription ends, and you can download it for offline use. Personalization goes further. You can set song from Amazon Music as ringtone by downloading the MP3 to your phone and assigning it through your device’s sound settings. Across devices, your queue and library sync automatically, but the experience changes slightly depending on the hardware. To control playback on a desktop, you can listen to Amazon Music on PC using the desktop app or web player. The mobile app, on the other hand, lets you swipe between the now-playing screen and your library. Remember that Amazon Music Unlimited unlocks high-quality streaming and offline downloads, while Prime Music limits you to shuffle play and a smaller catalog. Knowing which one you have is the difference between seamless customization and hitting a wall. Only Amazon lets you buy a song as a permanent MP3 that lives in your digital locker and plays even after your subscription ends.
Managing downloads, storage, and sharing
Your music lives on your device only as long as you keep it there. To listen to Amazon music offline, you first need to download each song or playlist while connected to Wi-Fi. This works on phones, tablets, and computers with an Amazon Music Unlimited subscription, or with music you have purchased. If you run low on storage, you can delete downloaded songs on Amazon music one at a time. You can also use the "Manage Downloads" screen to wipe an entire album or playlist in one tap. For iPhone users who notice the app getting sluggish, the fastest fix is to clear Amazon music cache on iPhone. Go to Settings > Amazon Music and tap "Clear Cache" to free up space without removing your saved downloads. Moving subscription music to a non-Amazon device is more limited: you cannot transfer music from Amazon Music to MP3 player directly because the files are encrypted. Songs you actually purchased (not streamed) can be downloaded as MP3 files on a computer and then copied manually. To share your subscription with the household, add people to Amazon Music through the "Household" settings on Amazon's website. Everyone gets their own library and recommendations, but they must live at the same address.
