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Amazon Music Unlimited now available in the UK from £8 a month

Echo owners can get it for half the price.

After months of rumours and teasing, Amazon finally launched its own unlimited music streaming service in October. Access was initially reserved access for US customers, but today the retailer is expanding to the UK. Music Unlimited -- Amazon's answer to Spotify and Apple Music -- offers over 40 million tracks and starts at £7.99 per month or £79 per year if you're a Prime member (£9.99 for everyone else) and comes with an discounted "For Echo" plan that costs £3.99 each month.

Just like its rivals, Amazon's music service provides access to thousands of curated playlists and personalised radio stations via the company's mobile apps but also its Echo speaker. The company has tightly integrated Music Unlimited with its intelligent hardware, allowing you to find a track by simply saying a few words from the song. Alexa can also create playlists on any artist, play tracks based on a specific day, date or month, and find music that will suit your mood.

To activate a free 30-day trial, you can either visit the Amazon UK website or just say "Alexa, start my Amazon Music Unlimited free trial." While Apple, Spotify and Google are more established on the streaming scene, Amazon has a distinct advantage over its rivals with its Echo hardware. The cheap Echo-exclusive plan could lure lots of new users to the platform, or tempt those already using Amazon's free but limited Prime Music offering into upgrading, allowing the company to upsell its services in the future.