Amazon adds free music for anyone, with ads

Amazon is adding another streaming music option for customers, a free, ad-supported service that requires no subscriptions and is available on a range of devices.

The online giant's free music service is in addition to the ad-free options available to its Prime subscribers, and the paid Amazon Music Unlimited, which has a bigger library.

The ad-supported option, which had been only available to customers on Echo devices, was made available from Monday on Apple, Android or Fire TV devices as well as on the web in the US, Britain and Germany.

The new option competes directly against Spotify, which offers both free and paid subscriptions, and a number of subscription services from Apple, Google and others.

Amazon Music allows users to listen to individual songs, playlists and "stations" with various themes.