Kathryn Pomroy
If you're an Amazon Prime Video subscriber but haven't sprung for the streaming giant's new ad-free version, you may have noticed that something seems different.
In fact, something is — Amazon has removed Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos surround sound from your streaming experience. These features are now offered only to those who subscribe to the add-free Prime Video version.
The quiet change, first reported by German-language site 4kfilme and followed up by other media, occurred earlier this year when Amazon began charging extra to avoid commercials. The Dolby features are now only available on select titles to ad-free customers, an Amazon spokesperson told Kiplinger in an email.
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Launched January 29, Amazon's ad-free Prime Video subscription service costs an extra $2.99 a month. The cost is on top of the $139 annual or $14.99 monthly fee for an Amazon Prime subscription, or the standalone $8.99 per month Amazon Prime Video subscription.
What to know about Amazon Prime Video ads
Last September, Amazon announced its intent to add commercials but said it hoped to show "meaningfully fewer ads than linear TV and other streaming TV providers."
In an email sent to Prime members about the pending shift to limited advertisements, the company said, “The $2.99 fee will allow us to continue investing in compelling content and keep increasing that investment over a long period of time.”
According to the company's financial statements, advertising accounts for more than 8% of Amazon’s total net sales and now surpasses income from its subscription services. Even so, Amazon continues to sustain losses from licensing and distribution of video content, which may be behind the new fee and also why many other streaming services have raised prices on their cheapest plans.
This new $2.99 fee comes on the heels of recent changes in Amazon Prime Music subscriptions. Although Amazon Music added 98 million songs to the platform's music library free of charge (with no ads) for Prime members, members can only play individual songs if they upgrade to Amazon Unlimited at $9 per month.
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