Getting Prime Music feature activated on current Kindle fire tablets
There have been reports of difficulty getting the current Kindle Fire tablets updated software to access the Prime Music feature. I had difficulty at first too. The tablet kept seeing only the old Amazon MP3 icon after I tapped "Music" at the top Home menu and clicked to get an album or song that was followed by a popup asking me to use "Amazon Music" icon to launch or play the Prime Music that had just been put into my Music Library via the Cart.
Even after I Powered Off, and did cache clearing with Application Management for the Amazon mp3 icon that kept showing up, it did let me access the Prime music feature.
What did work to activate Prime Music on the Kindle Fire tablets?
* I clicked on 'Web' (instead of 'Musc') to bring up Amazon's default Silk web browser.
* Then I accessed the Prime Music offerings page
*OR* typed in http://amazon.com/cloudplayer
When the webpage loaded, it changed the Amazon mp3 icon to the Amazon Music one and I suddenly had access to all the Prime Music features.
The expert-recommended Prime playlists have a lot of today's music on it but most of it wasn't that interesting to me. However, when I viewed the resulting limited number of examples of Songs or Albums showing but then clicked on "See more" at top right of each, I got a lot more.
If I clicked on an album or a song, then I was also shown, at the bottom, related albums or songs by that artist and sometmes similar artists, or compilation albums.
What worked best for me was to SEARCH, using the magnifier-icon for songs or artists I wanted to hear and then I got very good results. I have an interest in the old stuff from the 60s as they're harder to find without getting malware popups, and I did find the Platters, the Drifters, The Rays, Little Anthony, the Righteous Brothers et al. I was fond of "On Broadway" and found it and then of course "Under the Boardwalk," for which there are scrolling lyrics, with the current sung line highlighted (with Amazon's X-ray feature)
However, for the 70s, I couldn't find Prime-free songs from JJ Cale, John Mayall, Leon Russell, Rolling Stones, Traffic, or Steppenwolf's "The Pusher" -- but at least I found that I could, if I wanted any that much, pay 99c to $1.29 for a song if I wanted. and did, so that's how Amazon makes money off of this, after paying music publishers for the unlimited use of some for Prime.
On the other hand, almost every recording Elvis ever made is there on free Prime Music. And some Springsteen too. I already use Amazon's Cloud Player a lot, so this is a boon in my case.
Reaction to Kindle Fire's direct video MayDay customer support feature
I've found that friends don't use the MaydaY function for some reason, and it's a shame because it's the most amazing type of customer support I've encountered - an actual human to contact and answer questions even at 3am in the morning, who can either 'show' you how to do something on your tablet or even do it FOR you.
You can see and hear them, not by phone where it's hard for them to see what you're talking about and not by computer-typing-chat which is always slow and not particularly helpful.
The customer reps are unusually adept and helpful, and I can't think of another company that would go to these lengths, spending that kind of money in support, to make it easier on the customer -- but that's how Amazon has decided it will get customer loyalty and our dollars, but this kind of live, video-style advanced support (well-informed reps) is expensive, especially with their goal of 15-second response time ! U.S. travelers access it when in other parts of the world. It turns out they've seen an average 9.75-second response time
This morning Amazon had a press release to remind people who don't use it, what a boon it is.
Also, for those who gift a tablet to family members etc., almost no support time is needed from the gifter. And the tablet user doesn't deal with uncomprehending, impersonal first-level support from people working in data centers in other countries where effective communication between U.S. customers and support is often a struggle.
I'll "reprint" below MOST of the press release but you can read there some unusual and often entertaining situations in which Mayday customer-support representatives have found themselves involved (or in which they decided to help in ways uncommon for customer technical support).
The basics of the press release otherwise
PRESS RELEASE
June 13, 2014, 9:01 a.m. EDT
75% of Kindle Fire HDX Customer Questions Now Come via the Mayday Button—Average Response Time is Just 9.75 Seconds
SEATTLE, Jun 13, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) --AMZN +0.64% —Eight months ago, Amazon launched the Mayday button, connecting you to live, on-device tech support 24x7, 365 days a year—for free. Today, Amazon announced that the Mayday button is now the most popular way for Fire HDX customers to contact customer service, and the average response time is just 9.75 seconds.
“When we set out to invent the Mayday button, we wanted to revolutionize tech support—and we’re happy to report it’s working!” said Scott Brown, Director, Amazon Customer Service. “75% of customer contacts for Fire HDX now come via the Mayday button. Even as the Mayday button has grown to become the most popular way for customers to ask questions, the team’s been able to beat the response time goal of 15 seconds or less—our average is just 9.75 seconds.”
Unusual Mayday anecdotes include::
[Omitted for space - see the actual press release]
Here’s what customers are saying about the Mayday button:
[Omitted for space - see the actual press release]
Here’s what customers are saying about the Mayday button:
- “Un-freaking-believable”
- “The Mayday feature of my new kindle is fantastic. To have a person who can hear your voice answer your questions immediately, and solve your issue within seconds is just invaluable.”
- “MAYDAY is officially the coolest!!!”
- “I wasn’t disappointed. It’s everything you said it would be. Mayday is terrific.”
- “Sensational”
- “The Mayday feature ROCKS! I’ve used it twice already and both times the tech support was just the best! Amazon you have the best device support on the market today!”
Here’s what reviewers are saying:
- “An amazing idea well-implemented.” – TechCrunch
- “But in Mayday, we get a glimpse into what the future of online customer support could look like.” – Fortune
- “Mayday is amazing and truly practical…” – New York Times
- “It’s called Mayday, and it’s the most remarkable customer service tool I’ve ever seen.” – The Verge
- “It’s pretty cool that Amazon has invested so heavily in customer service that it has real humans waiting to help you out 24/7 at the push of a button.” – Business Insider
The Mayday button is free and available 24/7, 365 days a year. To use, you simply tap the Mayday button in Quick Settings, and an Amazon expert will appear on your Fire HDX and can co-pilot you through any feature by drawing on your screen, walking you through how to do something yourself, or doing it for you—whatever you’d prefer . . .
-- [End of reprinted portions of the press release]
Check often: Temporarily-free recently published Kindle books
Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources. Top 100 free bestsellers. Liked-books under $1
UK-Only: recently published free books, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.
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On my kindlefire hdx some of the icons are lit uo (bright) and some are not how Do I get them all lit up when I turn on my kindle?
ReplyDeleteThat's odd, Anonymous. But if it's Kindle books, the not-bright ones tend to be the books that are only on your Cloud and not on the device. Might that be it?
DeleteOn the other hand, the Home page icons on my HDX are all lit up. You can tap the "?" icon to talk to a customer rep that you can watch answering you (they don't see you but can hear you) and the rep can look at your screen and provide some ideas or let you know something's wrong. They can even work the screen.
Could you let me know what you find out?