Everything you need to know about Amazon Music Unlimited audiobooks
Recently, Amazon announced that Amazon Music Unlimited would now include an Audible audiobook each month with your subscription.
(This was likely due to Spotify adding audiobook hours to Spotify memberships – more details about that here, if you’re curious!).
Since then, I’ve gotten a million messages asking for details about how it works, so here’s what you need to know about audiobooks on Amazon Music Unlimited, plus the answers to the most frequently asked questions.
The long and short of it is that every month you can select an Audible audiobook for free on Amazon Music Unlimited.
This is basically any audiobook that exists in the Audible catalog. Brand-new release? Yes. Buzzy bestseller? Yes. Obscure title? Yes.
You can search in the Amazon Music app for the title you want and then select it as your title that month. You’ll then have the whole month to listen to it and next month, you can choose a new book.
The most frequently asked question is if you should cancel Audible and now just use Amazon Music Unlimited.
For me, the answer is no.
You don’t own the audiobook so you can’t re-listen, you can’t share it with family members (only the primary user of Amazon Music Unlimited has access), you don’t have access to the Audible Plus catalog, and you don’t have access to Audible sales.
So for me, I see this free audiobook as a bonus but not a replacement of my Audible subscription.
But depending on how YOU use Audible, it might be worth just dropping down to Amazon Music Unlimited instead of keeping both.
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about the audiobooks in Amazon Music Unlimited:
How do you search for specific books on Amazon Music?
Exactly like you’d search for a song! Just tap the magnifying glass at the bottom of the screen in the Amazon Music app and then search for the title you want!
Can I play free Audible content over and over like The Cinnamon Bear?
No – things from the Audible Plus catalog are NOT included with Amazon Music Unlimited. You get your one free listen per month and that’s it.
What happens if you don’t finish the audiobook in that month?
It’ll stay until you select out a new audiobook!
Can I listen to my free audiobook in the Audible app?
Yes! Once you’ve selected your free audiobook (which you must do in the Amazon Music app), it’ll also appear in the Audible app so you can listen there if you prefer (which I do!).
When you cancel or your subscription ends, is the audiobook gone?
Yep – it is a perk of Amazon Music Unlimited, but you don’t own these titles like you do an Audible book you bought with a credit or cash. When your subscription ends, so does your access.
What happens to our Audible library if we cancel Audible and use Amazon Music instead?
Anything you’ve purchased with credits or cash will remain in your Audible library. Any Audible Plus titles will disappear.
If you do Audible and Amazon Music is it a combined fee now or still two fees?
They’re still separate subscriptions so you’ll still pay for both!
Does your month start based on the calendar or your billing cycle?
It is based on your billing cycle. So for me, a new audiobook choice unlocks on the 20th of each month. It’ll show you in the Amazon Music Unlimited app what date you’ll get your next selection!
On our Amazon Music Unlimited family account, we have 6 different profiles. Is it one audiobook each or one total?
Only the primary account holder gets the audiobook (just like on Spotify).
Is Amazon Music pretty similar to Spotify?
Yes, they’re fairly similar. We use both, actually. My husband prefers Spotify but Amazon Music works much better on our Echo Dots (Spotify kicks people off all the time if multiple people are using it), so the rest of us use Amazon Music Unlimited.
You can try out Amazon Music Unlimited for a free month right now.
And if you have any other questions about the audiobooks on Amazon Music Unlimited, let me know – I’m happy to help!
Thanks for the info. If you want to upgrade to unlimited can you get the 3 months free?
That I don’t know!