How to Cancel Amazon Music Unlimited

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Open Your Amazon Music Settings

   In a web browser, go to amazon.com/music/settings (Amazon calls it Your Amazon Music Settings) and sign in with the Amazon account that pays for Unlimited. Find the Amazon Music Unlimited section. If you subscribed in the Amazon Music app on an iPhone or iPad, Amazon can't cancel it from here; if you pay through Google Play or your phone carrier, Amazon says to cancel with them. The optional steps below cover those.

2. 2

   Select Cancel in your Subscription Renewal details

   In the Amazon Music Unlimited section, select the Cancel option in your Subscription Renewal details. On a Family plan this is the account holder's job: invited members can remove themselves from the plan, but cancelling isn't among the things Amazon lets them do.

3. 3

   Keep cancelling if Amazon offers a pause

   If your plan is eligible, Amazon lets you pause your monthly subscription instead of cancelling. Carry on with the cancellation. Annual plans, free trials, promotional plans and plans billed by Apple, Google Play or a carrier can't be paused.

   Heads up: A pause isn't a cancellation. Amazon says it starts at the end of your billing cycle and the subscription then resumes automatically, so billing comes back on its own. Pausing also loses you the selected Audible audiobook at the end of the cycle, exactly as cancelling does. If you can't get past it, Amazon's terms list customer service as a way to cancel; one member on r/amazonmusic wrote, "I had to contact the online chat to do it, since I could only pause my membership."

4. 4

   Confirm the cancellation and check the end date

   Confirm the cancellation. Amazon's terms say it takes effect at the end of your term, so Unlimited keeps working until then, with no refund of fees already paid. To check it went through, open Your Memberships and Subscriptions (amazon.com/yourmembershipsandsubscriptions), which lists active, canceled and expired subscriptions with their renewal dates. When the term ends, Amazon says the app grays out the Unlimited songs and podcasts in your Library and removes the Playback option.

5. 5
   If this applies to you

   If you're not sure which Amazon Music you pay for

   Amazon has three products with similar names. Amazon Music Prime comes with a Prime membership at no extra charge, so there's nothing to cancel on its own: it ends only if Prime does. Amazon Music Standard is a separate paid plan; you cancel it on the same settings page under Subscription Renewal, or by saying "Alexa, cancel my Amazon Music Standard subscription." Amazon Music Unlimited is the paid plan this guide covers. It doesn't need Prime and isn't part of it, so cancelling Unlimited leaves Prime alone. As one member on r/amazonmusic put it, "Prime doesn't get Amazon Music Unlimited, it is a separate subscription." Your Memberships and Subscriptions shows which one is billing you.

6. 6
   If this applies to you

   If Apple, Google Play or your carrier bills you

   Amazon says that if you signed up through the Apple App Store, Google Play or a mobile service provider, you contact them to cancel or request a refund, and their policies apply. Amazon can't cancel, manage or refund an Apple subscription, and only the Individual plan can be bought in the iPhone or iPad app. Apple: on iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, the Amazon Music subscription and Cancel Subscription. Amazon says your music continues until the end of the current billing cycle. Google Play: open play.google.com/store/account/subscriptions, select the subscription, tap Cancel subscription and follow the instructions. Carrier: contact your phone company. None of these plans can be paused.

7. 7
   If this applies to you

   If you signed up by voice on an Echo

   Saying "Alexa, try Amazon Music Unlimited" starts a free trial on an Echo, and members on r/amazonmusic say asking for music that needs Unlimited prompts you to subscribe. Amazon's own help answers "Why Did My Amazon Music Single Device Plan Cost Increase?" with "You may have accidentally signed up for Amazon Music Unlimited on additional devices." If you signed up through Amazon, you can cancel by voice too: "Alexa, cancel my Amazon Music Unlimited subscription." To stop it happening again, Amazon suggests a voice code for purchases: in the Alexa app, open More, then Settings, Account Settings, Voice Purchasing, Purchase Confirmation and Manage, and turn Voice code on. If you only listen on one Echo, "Alexa, downgrade Amazon Music" moves a monthly Individual plan to the cheaper Single Device plan, which still bills every month.

8. 8
   If this applies to you

   If the Cancel option errors or sends you back to the home page

   Members on r/amazonmusic describe the settings link bouncing them to the Amazon home page, or a "something went wrong" error until they refreshed. Two other routes exist. An Amazon staff member on Amazon's forum gives this one: open Your Memberships and Subscriptions, select Manage Subscription next to Amazon Music Unlimited, then Cancel Subscription under Advanced Controls, which opens the subscription page where you can end it. Amazon's terms also let you cancel by contacting Amazon customer service, from the Customer Service link on amazon.com. The voice command above works as well if you signed up through Amazon.

9. 9
   If this applies to you

   If you're on the annual plan

   Amazon lists annual prices only for Prime members, and an annual plan can't be paused. Cancelling turns off the renewal: you keep Unlimited to the end of the year you paid for, and Amazon's terms say payment is non-refundable "even if you did not use the Services", so the unused months aren't refunded outside the EU, UK and Brazil withdrawal window. Switching to a cheaper plan doesn't help mid-year either: the terms say a downgrade takes effect at the end of your current term.

10. 10
    If this applies to you

    If you manage a Family plan

    The account holder invites and removes family members and manages the payment method, so the account holder is the one who cancels. Up to six people get Unlimited through the plan, so tell them before it ends. An invited member who wants out removes themselves from the plan, which doesn't change the account holder's bill. The monthly audiobook belongs to the account holder, who loses the selected title when the billing cycle ends.

11. 11
    If this applies to you

    If you want a refund or still see charges

    Amazon's terms say that if you cancel "you will not receive a refund of any fees already paid." The exceptions they list: in the EU, the UK or Brazil you can withdraw within 14 days of signing up and get any fee back, and if Amazon discontinues your plan it refunds the unused part. Apple, Google Play and carriers apply their own policies. For a charge you don't recognise, Amazon's charge-identification help points digital subscriptions to Your Digital Orders. Check Your Memberships and Subscriptions on every Amazon account in the household, then contact Amazon customer service. Members on r/amazonmusic report Unlimited appearing on accounts where nobody remembers signing up, so watch your statement for the next month or two.