- Prices increase across almost all Apple Music tiers
- There are also some bumps in Apple Music prices
- These are the first price increases we have seen since October 2022
Apple Music is the latest subscription package to get a bump in price, giving users the choice of paying more or losing access to the streaming portion of their library. The accompanying Apple One package, which includes Apple Music, now also costs more.
As reported by Music Business Worldwide (via Engadget), the reason cited by Apple is “increasing licensing costs.” This is the first price increase for this particular subscription we’ve seen since October 2022. The new monthly prices are below:
| Header cell – column 0 |
US |
Great Britain |
Australia |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Individual |
$11.99 (up $1) |
£11.99 (up £1) |
AU$14.99 (up AU$2) |
|
Family |
$19.99 (up $3) |
£19.99 (up £3) |
AU$23.99 (up AU$4) |
|
Student |
$6.99 (up $1) |
£5.99 (unchanged) |
AU$7.99 (up $1) |
The Apple One price increases are less obvious as they are not as readily available on Apple’s website. It appears that the Apple One Family plan is now $27.95 per month (up $2) and the Apple One Premier plan is now $39.95 (also up $2), although the Apple One Individual plan has remained at $19.95. Internationally, similar price increases are likely.
This comes at a time when everything tech-related is getting more expensive, from laptops to streaming services. Exploding demand for AI resources has sent the price of memory and storage skyrocketing, and that continues to have a knock-on effect everywhere.
Loss of control
Apple raises prices for Apple Music and Apple One subscriptions
from r/apple
Of course, Apple is by no means the first company to raise its subscription prices, but it is a reminder of the pitfalls of the digital rental model. As soon as you stop paying, you lose access – so if you need a service, you have no choice but to accept the higher price.
The online backlash has mostly focused on this as well: “It’s not even about the cost sometimes,” writes one Redditor. “It’s about losing control of your finances. Companies can raise their prices whenever they want.” Few commentators seem ready to abandon Apple Music, although many point to the billions that Apple has in the bank.
Apple Music doesn’t have a free tier like Spotify does, but it beats all other music streaming services in the support it gives you for local files. If you have enough MP3s and ripped CDs, you can use it just fine without a subscription.
As we’ve written about recently, Apple is selling more and more of its software products through recurring payments rather than a flat one-time fee, and one of the reasons is that it’s more profitable—and makes it more likely that users will continue to pay up.
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