What is it with smartphone music news today? First there was Spotify, then the Samsung Music Hub, and now it’s Amazon’s turn to get the spotlight, announcing some big improvements to its Cloud Player service and the Amazon MP3 app.
Amazon has inked deals with the major record labels that now allow it to perform its own iTunes Match-style scan of your music collection, freeing you from having to upload all your files. What sounds really nice, though, might be what it means for audio quality; even if your original files are lower quality, once Amazon matches them with its library, the copies you stream will be at 256kbps.
Of course, any music you buy from Amazon will also be available on the Cloud Player for streaming, including tracks purchased in the past. You can access your music library through Android and iOS device, via web browser, and Amazon claims that support is coming soon to some home entertainment center streaming devices.
Free Cloud Player accounts can store up to 250 songs (in addition to those bought through Amazon). For users on the $25-yearly paid plan, that number jumps way up to 250,000.
