Amazon Prime Music in India to Add Ads, Drop Offline Listening by 2026
Amazon India will introduce advertisements on its bundled Prime Music service and remove offline download support for Prime members starting July 2, 2026. This change aims to encourage users to upgrade to the paid Amazon Music Unlimited tier, aligning with Amazon's broader strategy of integrating advertising into its entertainment offerings, as previously seen with Prime Video.
Key Takeaways
- Amazon Prime Music in India will no longer be ad-free and will lose offline download capabilities as of July 2, 2026.
- The service will continue to offer over 100 million songs and 15 million podcast episodes on demand for Prime members.
- This move encourages Prime members to upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited for ad-free listening, offline downloads, HD, and spatial audio.
- Prime members are being offered a six-month free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited.
- This follows Amazon's prior integration of ads into Prime Video in India, with an ad-free add-on introduced in May 2025.
Why It Matters
Amazon's decision to monetize Prime Music in India with ads and remove key features signals a broader industry trend where previously bundled services are being unbundled or made less premium to create upsell opportunities. This directly impacts user experience for millions of Prime subscribers, likely pushing adoption of the paid Amazon Music Unlimited tier. Competitors like Spotify and YouTube, which already use freemium or ad-supported models, will observe how this shift affects Amazon's music subscriber base. Watch for Amazon's Music Unlimited subscription numbers in India following the 2026 changes.
Read full article at inc42.com
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