Amazon Music—an updated and rebranded version of the Amazon MP3 app—has a new feature that may entice Amazon Prime subscribers: Amazon Prime Music support. That's right, the mobile music store now taps Amazon's newly released music streaming service to bring millions of songs to your Android tablet or smartphone (if the device is running Android 4.0 or later). If you already subscribe to the $99 Amazon Prime, you'll likely find the ad-free Amazon Music With Prime Music a solid app, but it lacks several features—and artists—found in Slacker Radio, our Editors' Choice among Android music streaming services.

Getting Started

Amazon's app is a store that lets you purchase individual songs and albums, but it becomes a music streaming app with a focus on playlist building (not creating radio stations) if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber. You can hunt for tracks by selecting one of more than 20 music genres and then cycling between the Songs, Albums, and Playlists categories. A swipe-out menu lets you quickly check out recommendations (which are located in a far more convenient place than in the browser-based Amazon Prime Music), new releases, playlists, settings, and the Amazon Music Store. You can also search for your favorite artist or song by keying names into the search box.

Unfortunately, you cannot search for artists, songs, or bands within the Prime Playlist section. If you want to see which artists are included in a playlist, you must open the playlist. I would have liked a search option that let me see where Rage Against the Machine songs live in the various playlists.

Catalog Woes

Amazon Music With Prime Music has a big flaw that's tied to the Amazon Prime Music service and not the app itself: holes in the catalog. You're not, for example, going to find Led Zeppelin (you can, however, find the group in Pandora, Slacker, and Spotify streams), and nearly all of Michael Jackson's solo output is missing in action.

Another woe: Amazon couldn't hammer out a deal with Universal Music Group, so you can't stream that record label's stable of artists, which includes the likes of Nicki Minaj and Metallica. That said, you can stream music from popular and not-so-popular artists such as Daft Punk, Foo Fighters, Pitbull, and Amy Stroup.

Playlists and Purchases

Like Songza, Amazon Prime Music is stocked with hundreds of themed playlists. I found interesting collections such as 50 Great '90s Songs and Hot, Sweaty Summer Nights. Each playlist displays a list of the tracks and the list's total runtime. When you find a track or playlist you like, you can quickly add the music to your music library by tapping the "Add" icon.

Naturally, Amazon gives you the option to purchase songs—it's one of the world's largest retailers, after all. The app's Music Store contains many tracks priced between 69 cents and $1.29. You may ask yourself why you'd want to purchase music when lots of "free" music comes with your Amazon Prime subscription. It's simple: Buying digital music files fill Prime Music's catalog holes. For example, you can purchase the Zeppelin songs that aren't available for streaming and listen to them from within Amazon Music with Prime Music.

Unlike the browser-based Amazon Prime Music, the app lets you purchase just one song or album at a time. If you want to do mass purchases, you'll need to visit Amazon on the desktop side—a slight inconvenience. Check out our Amazon  Prime Music review for storage information and how the service compares to iTunes Match.

Decent Audio, Performance Issues

The music streamed to my ears via an Astro Gaming headset was crisp and satisfying. It wasn't audiophile good, but most people won't have an issue with the audio. If you're the type who likes to read song lyrics, you'll have to go elsewhere, because there are none to be found here.

I have a larger gripe, however: Amazon Music With Prime Music locked up my Samsung Galaxy Note II  phone on multiple occassions. Each time my phone froze, it was after I had tapped the play button to initiate a stream. On the upside, you can cache music for offline playback as you can with a $9.99 per month Slacker Radio Premium subscription.

It's Amazon Prime on the Go

Amazon Music with Prime Music won't coax away listeners from PCMag Editors' Choice Slacker Radio, who are accustomed to live radio, lyrics, weather updates, and excellent DJ-curated stations, but if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber who just wants to listen to a few tunes on your Android smartphone or tablet without incurring additional costs—or exploring other apps—you may want to download the app.

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