Apple to expand Apple Music student discount to 82 new regions this month
In an expansion scheduled to roll out over the course of February, Apple will begin offering half-price Apple Music discounts to students in 82 additional countries, according to a report on Monday.
The company is expanding student discounts to 79 new markets today, with an additional three countries set to gain access on Feb. 26, iMore's Rene Ritchie said in a tweet.
Israel, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal and Taiwan are among the countries scheduled to gain Apple Music discounts this month. A full list of currently supported regions can be found on the Apple Music student subscription webpage, which will soon be updated with the new information.
Launched in 2016, the program grants students enrolled at eligible colleges and universities special access to Apple Music for up to 48 months. Under the terms, students pay half the cost of a standard single-user subscription.
Initially restricted to students in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the U.S., discounted Apple Music rates were later expanded to 30 more regions.
Apple works with UNiDAYS to verify student enrollment, which must be maintained throughout the subscription period to retain special Apple Music pricing. In certain countries, like Canada, students can directly verify eligibility by signing up for Apple Music through their campus Wi-Fi network or by using a school email address.
The student subscription expansion arrives as part of Apple's effort to goose adoption of its streaming music service. Apple earlier this month said it had 36 million subscribers worldwide, a far cry from industry leader Spotify's 70 million paying users. That said, Apple Music is growing at a rate of 5 percent in the U.S. compared to Spotify's 2 percent, meaning Apple's offering could take the lead in the tech giant's home market this year.
The company is expanding student discounts to 79 new markets today, with an additional three countries set to gain access on Feb. 26, iMore's Rene Ritchie said in a tweet.
Israel, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal and Taiwan are among the countries scheduled to gain Apple Music discounts this month. A full list of currently supported regions can be found on the Apple Music student subscription webpage, which will soon be updated with the new information.
Launched in 2016, the program grants students enrolled at eligible colleges and universities special access to Apple Music for up to 48 months. Under the terms, students pay half the cost of a standard single-user subscription.
Initially restricted to students in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the U.S., discounted Apple Music rates were later expanded to 30 more regions.
Apple works with UNiDAYS to verify student enrollment, which must be maintained throughout the subscription period to retain special Apple Music pricing. In certain countries, like Canada, students can directly verify eligibility by signing up for Apple Music through their campus Wi-Fi network or by using a school email address.
The student subscription expansion arrives as part of Apple's effort to goose adoption of its streaming music service. Apple earlier this month said it had 36 million subscribers worldwide, a far cry from industry leader Spotify's 70 million paying users. That said, Apple Music is growing at a rate of 5 percent in the U.S. compared to Spotify's 2 percent, meaning Apple's offering could take the lead in the tech giant's home market this year.
Comments
Perhaps, grade, middle and high school students are more likely to be on the family plan? (Which is actually the same price ($5/mo) if one student is added, and gets progressively cheaper for each additional one -- because the $5/month surcharge is spread across more students).
(BTW, the $5/mo I'm speaking of is the difference between the $10/mo individual plan and the $15/mo family plan)
I'm guessing either way that most K-12 students would have a difficult time paying for the subscription and there could be some legal things as well (maybe not?). How many kids have their own credit card/debit card with a continuous flow of cash on it? Maybe its a lot, not sure. I don't have kids.
But I think Apple should think about it -- at least for Apple Music and maybe some other products & services...
Kids form lasting preferences in and biases for certain things long before they leave high school. Music is one of them. Computers is probably another. But, Google and others are using the Ronald McDonald approach of indoctrinating kids early - like with their ChromeBooks.
I trust that Apple to is looking at this, and I trust them. I'm just nervous that, in a few years, we'll begin hearing that young adults have moved on from the Apple ecosystem -- not because its a better product, but because, well, just because....