Amazon made a name for itself through its e-commerce and the never-ending incorporation of other services to make Amazon the ultimate need for every kind of service you could think of.
If you navigate through your Amazon account, you could observe there have been changes to the application and you wonder what is Amazon digital?.
Amazon provides the majority of its services through Amazon Digital. This includes books, movies, music, and video games.
This article will discuss everything that you need to know about Amazon digital, the different Amazon digital services, and the charges of these services.
What is Amazon Digital: All your questions explained
Amazon as a company charges for its digital content through Amazon Digital. If you have used Amazon Prime Video in the past or you have come across Kindle, you know more about Amazon Digital than you probably think you do.
Through the Amazon Digital program, amazon offers unlimited digital content such as books, movies, video games, and music. The brand is now known for offering more than just e-commerce as it gives access to almost all of your favourite digital content.
Amazon Digital comes with a fee, however. As a Prime member, you enjoy several benefits, one of which is this service. To use Amazon Digital, you pay a fee that ranges from $0.99 to $119 every month. We will talk about the specifics later in the article.
Types of Amazon Digital
We will go over eight of the most famous Amazon Digital services and briefly talk about their charges.
Amazon Prime
We are starting with this because it encompasses a lot. Subscription to Amazon Prime provides subscribers with exclusive access to additional services that are not available to regular Amazon users. Amazon Prime users enjoy access to:
- Unlimited TV shows and movies through Prime Video.
- Free games under Amazon games.
- Unlimited books through Amazon reading.
- Free streaming of music through Amazon playlist.
- Free 1-2 days shipping.
- Deliveries before the regular 8 in the morning.
- Try before you buy.
- Amazon Photos.
- Prime early access.
- Prime-exclusive deals.
The membership fee for this service is $14.99 a month and $139 a year. While we mentioned Amazon reading here, please know that Amazon reading has a narrower range when compared to Amazon Kindle.
Prime Video
This is one branch of Amazon Prime that is specifically for movie and television streaming services of Amazon. It enables users to access films and television shows through a browser, an app on their phone, or television using a game console or streaming device.
This service is very crucial and has a sell-point because of its ease of use and the fact it could be carried anywhere. For example, a physical game cartridge or DVD is not needed because the information can be streamed online.
Amazon Prime Video has a lot of amazing content, and it also offers movies and shows that are exclusive to Amazon.
As a primer user, you have access to this service without paying any extra charges from Amazon, but if you are a non-prime user, you will have to pay a subscription fee of $8.99 per month to enjoy the service.
Amazon Prime Video has both original content and crowd favourites. Through the service, you can subscribe to different channels so that you can watch content from your favourite channels through the convenient Amazon Video Platform.
Channels offered through this Amazon digital are:
- AMC Plus
- Boomerang
- Cinemax
- Discovery Plus
- Epix
- Hallmark Movies Now
- Lifetime Movie Club
- MLB TV
- NBA TV
- NBA League Pass
- Paramount Plus
- PBS Kids
- Showtime
- Shudder
- Starz
When Amazon Prime Video does not satiate your taste, you could decide to subscribe to Amazon channels which give you access to third-party streaming services while inside your Amazon account. You can proceed here to read more about this topic.
Amazon Audible
This is a big competitor for Google Podcast. Amazon Audible is an online audiobook and podcast business that is based in the United States. It allows customers to buy and listen to audiobooks and other spoken-word content.
There are well over 200,000 audio programs from publishers of audiobooks, entertainers, broadcasters, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers that you could listen to at the time of your choosing.
You could enjoy this service for free for the first 30 days, after which the monthly charge is $7.95 for loud plus and $14.95 for Audible premium plus. You would need to add your credit card to enjoy this free trial.
Amazon Kindle
We talked about Amazon reading earlier. While these two services are similar, Amazon Kindle provides unlimited access to users.
Amazon Kindle is one of Amazon Digital and it allows users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, journals, newspapers, magazines, comic books, and other written materials. If you try Amazon Kindle, you probably would not have to sweat over any written or typed material that you may need as this service is the whole package.
To use Amazon Kindle, you would need to pay $9.99 every month.
Amazon Kids+
This is a kid-friendly paid subscription service that gives children access to many books, television shows, movies, and other materials. By subscribing to this, you need not worry about getting the right content available to your kid.
Amazon Kids+ is divided into three age groups: 9 to 12, 8 to 6, and 3 to 5. Parents get the chance to take control and keep tabs on their kids’ access.
To use Amazon Kids, you get a free trial for the first 30 days, after which charges of $2.99 kick in per month.
Amazon Music
You get a limited number of titles for free with your Amazon Prime subscription, but you can upgrade the membership to increase the titles available to you. An upgrade gives you access to two million songs on the smallest subscription and seventy-five million songs on the biggest.
The biggest thing about Amazon Music is that you can control the song that plays through voice command and you could set the application to play similar songs after that one completes.
As a prime member, you can join Amazon Prime Unlimited for only $8.99 per month. Other users would need to pay an excess of $1 to have access to this service.
PS: Amazon offers two types of music streaming options. Prime Music comes free with an Amazon Prime membership, while Amazon Music Unlimited is a premium service that costs a charge of $8.99 per month for prime members.
Software subscription
Paid software will give you good value for your money. Usually, you can pay for this software as a monthly, or more often, a yearly subscription.
Once the subscription is up, you have the choice to pay for the subscription again or choose new software. There are quite a few subscriptions available through Amazon software subscription and these include:
- Microsoft 365 personal
- Microsoft 365 family
- Adobe Acrobat Pro
- Adobe Creative Cloud
- McAfee Total Protection
- Norton 360
You may want to keep in mind that these subscriptions automatically renew. If you do not want to continue using them, you may want to cancel your membership to these services before your current subscription expires.
Amazon offers a free Amazon Business account option if you plan to purchase software subscriptions for your business. It is similar to a regular account. However, it is designed to make business operations, such as going through your Amazon purchases easy.
Amazon Drive
We have not talked about Amazon digital if we do not talk about Amazon Prime. Amazon Drive is cloud-based storage for you to store all of your digital content. Even if you have no need for other Amazon Digital services, this is one crucial service that you cannot dispense with.
The cost of Amazon Drive depends on how much storage you need. Most people only need 100 GB or 1 TB for personal use. Extra storage may be required for professional purposes.
You should know that when you end your Amazon drive subscription, you lose access to all your saved documents and files. You may want to back up everything before you pull the plug.
Why use Amazon digital?
Now that we have answered the question – what is Amazon digital – why should you use this service? Especially when there are lots of competition out there such as Netflix and Spotify.
You may want to choose Amazon digital for the following reasons:
Originality
Writers and artists want to put their content on Amazon since they have such a large following. You probably have a writer who is close to you and he has probably asked you to download one of his books on Amazon in the past.
The point is that Amazon offers originality. This is largely due to its reputation. If you are wondering how exclusive Amazon digital contents could be, you would find it helpful knowing that Coming to America 2 and Borat Subsequent Movie Film were two movies only released on Amazon Prime.
Fair prices
Now, this is relative. However, Amazon offers great service for the fee they charge you. Usually, people gravitate to Amazon because of its amazing deals that are for sale at reasonable prices.
You may want to make the most out of your Amazon digital subscription by taking advantage of the content available to you.
Convenience
Instead of going to different websites and navigating between a hundred applications to access your favourite content, everything has been made available to you through Amazon digital.
In addition to this, you can also manage all of your subscriptions easily in one place, making it easier to spend wisely on your subscription services.
Security
Because Amazon offers everything in one place, you do not have to enter your card details in multiple places. In case you are wrongly debited or you want to cancel a subscription, you know you could head to Amazon and do this in no time.
You get more security by limiting the websites your card details are exposed to.
Tips to manage Amazon digital subscriptions
Amazon digital is fun and all. And to be fair, the charges are not too high. But when you are subscribed to too many services, you see that the charges might get crazy at times. You could handle your Amazon Digital subscriptions better by following the tips below.
Always analyse use
This does not have any frequency and you could do it any time you want. Every now and then, you should take time to see what subscriptions you use and which ones you no longer use. You probably are subscribed to a service you have not used in a long time and you may not even observe.
You may have subscribed to Showtime to watch your favourite American series. However, you may not watch anything else after you finish watching the show. In this case, you can cancel it until another show comes around. There is no use in paying for subscriptions you do not use or no longer use.
Keep subscriptions on a single platform
This is one of the reasons why Amazon channels became a big thing and it is one of the reasons Amazon is constantly allowing access to other services outside Amazon.
When you subscribe through a single vendor, you can check all of your subscriptions in one place and you would not have to worry about forgetting the password to one platform.
For someone who picks Amazon for this purpose, you could manage everything easily and cancel subscriptions to all. It prevents scenarios where your account is charged but you have no idea what service and what platform that came from.
Use free trials
Free trials are there to let you know if a service is right for you. You may want to take advantage of free trials to learn which subscriptions you want and which ones you do not.
The free trial is designed to lure you into becoming a paying customer, but you get the choice to continue with the subscription or cancel.
If you only want the free trial, mark your calendar so that you do not forget to cancel. And that brings us to the last point.
Mark your calendar
Take time to mark the date of your subscriptions in your digital calendar or the one you have at the office. This gives you the chance to see the charge on your calendar before it hits your bank account.
Should you want to cancel the subscription, you can cancel it before the charge. Mark your calendar with all of your bills at the beginning of every month. If you ever need to change your due dates, you can talk to Amazon customer care to do this.
How to access Amazon digital content
You can access the services you have subscribed to through Amazon Digital in a number of ways.
Amazon website
You can access your content through Amazon’s website. This way, you can watch videos or play games on your computer.
You can also have audiobooks or music playing through your computer. In this situation, you are limited to your computer’s monitor and speakers.
Amazon application
Amazon allows you to access your content through your phone or tablet using designated apps. You carry it with you everywhere you go.
You may want to keep in mind that different content will use different apps. There is a different Amazon application for shopping, and another for video. You may need about four Amazon applications on your phone overall.
Amazon firestick
Amazon allows you to connect your television to the internet using the Amazon Firestick. Once you are connected to the internet, you can proceed to download applications on your Amazon Firestick just like you would on your phone or tablet.
Through the Amazon Firestick, you can download a wide range of applications, even apps that allow you to access content not available through Amazon, such as Netflix and HBO GO.
How to cancel Amazon digital subscription
You can cancel your Amazon digital subscription by signing into your account and proceeding to the subscriptions page. Kindly follow the walkthrough below to see your active subscriptions and cancel them at any time.
- Sign in to your account through this link. From the homepage, you should hover on Account & Lists. You will see a dropdown menu from where you can proceed by clicking Membership & Subscriptions.
- You can then scroll through your Amazon subscriptions and cancel any subscription that you would like to. Typically, the window looks like the picture below.
How much are Amazon digital services?
You should know that Amazon digital is not an exact service, rather it encompasses all digital services that are offered by Amazon. These include Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Music, Amazon Reading, Amazon Drive, and a lot more.
All of these services come at different prices. Based on range, Amazon digital could be anything from $0.99 per month to $199. Amazon Prime which is the most used is $8.99 per month.
Can I cancel my Amazon digital order?
A free trial comes with many of the Amazon digital services. This is to provide some margin for error and to give you the chance to cancel your order if you think the service is not right for you.
To cancel an Amazon digital order, you should proceed to Subscriptions to pull the plug. Kindly check the section on how to cancel Amazon’s digital subscription for an in-depth guide.
How do I stop Amazon Digital Services’ charge?
You tell Amazon to stop deducting renewal charges from your account when you cancel an order or subscription. You should proceed to your subscriptions page to see what service you want to stop the deductions for.
If you need a better walkthrough of the process, check the section on how to cancel the digital subscription.
What is an Amazon Digital charge on my credit card?
Amazon Digital charge refers to the fee that will be deducted from your credit or debit card for continued access to the service you have subscribed to. The different Amazon digital services will have different charges. It includes television, movies, music, books, games, software, and more.
How do I find out what an Amazon Digital charge is for?
In case your card was debited and you do not know what service the charge is for, you can proceed to your Amazon account and click on Your Account. You can then scroll down to Your Payments and click on Transactions.
This will give you an in-depth analysis of what the charges against your account have been for.
Why does Amazon Digital keep charging me?
This is because of the auto renewal policy. Usually, Amazon Digital offers its subscribers a free trial period, which automatically turns into a full paid membership unless you manually turn off the auto-renewal option. Your credit card will get charged, even if you did not agree to become a full-fledged member.
You can prevent this by cancelling your membership before the due date. If you want to change your due date but do not want to cancel your membership, you can call Amazon customer service to make arrangements.
