Apple Music cuts free trial period from three months to one month

AppleInsider

New users can now only get one month's free trial of Apple Music, although buyers of eligible Apple devices continue to get six months.

Apple Music

Three years after it first appeared to be planning to shrink its free trial period, Apple Music has finally reduced it to one month. New users get one month's free trial, instead of the previous three months, although buyers of AirPods and other devices still get six months.

Apple Music's terms and conditions on the official site now make no mention of a specific period. But as late as January 2022, the banner headline was "Enjoy 3 months on us," and it's now "Start your free trial today."

New users who click to sign up for the trial are now notified that they get, "1 month free, then $9.99/month."

New users are now told the trial lasts for one month

Aside from offers such as the extended one for buyers of Apple headphones, Apple Music has been offering a three month free trial since it began in 2015.

Read on AppleInsider

Appleish

Bad timing. There are lots of people on social media promoting Apple Music's free three months as an incentive to leave Spotify.

maciekskontakt

Interesting move as Amazon now offers 4 months free for their service with the same pricing and working on many devices and not just Apple.

chasm

maciekskontakt said:

Interesting move as Amazon now offers 4 months free for their service with the same pricing and working on many devices and not just Apple.

I’m speculating here, but perhaps Apple shortened the trial to non-Apple buyers because they found people were signing up (or not) more quickly?

What am I going to learn about Amazon’s service in month four that I didn’t know in week one? Aren’t I more likely to let the trial run out and then jump ship to a different service’s free trial? I also seem to recall reading (but I could be wrong) that Amazon and other services don’t pay the artists during that free trial period, whereas Apple does.

But all that aside, Apple product buyers getting a longer trial seems like a smarter play to me. Though maybe that’s just because this week has reminded me again that Jeff Bezos is a loathsome egomaniac who steals from his own vendors and abuses his monopoly for the sole purpose of self-enrichment.

ITGUYINSD

maciekskontakt said:

Interesting move as Amazon now offers 4 months free for their service with the same pricing and working on many devices and not just Apple.

I have Apple Music app on my Android device.  Apple Music isn't "just Apple".

Rogue01

chasm said:

maciekskontakt said:

Interesting move as Amazon now offers 4 months free for their service with the same pricing and working on many devices and not just Apple.

I’m speculating here, but perhaps Apple shortened the trial to non-Apple buyers because they found people were signing up (or not) more quickly?

What am I going to learn about Amazon’s service in month four that I didn’t know in week one? Aren’t I more likely to let the trial run out and then jump ship to a different service’s free trial? I also seem to recall reading (but I could be wrong) that Amazon and other services don’t pay the artists during that free trial period, whereas Apple does.

But all that aside, Apple product buyers getting a longer trial seems like a smarter play to me. Though maybe that’s just because this week has reminded me again that Jeff Bezos is a loathsome egomaniac who steals from his own vendors and abuses his monopoly for the sole purpose of self-enrichment.

Apple shortened the trial in hopes that you forget about it and start paying for the service.  Notice a Mac purchase is no longer included as a qualified device, despite the Music app in macOS.

Rogue01

With macOS Monterey, Apple has now made it impossible to hide or block Apple Music.  Apple has settings to prevent access to the iTunes Store, and to impose restrictions in the store, in order to prevent accidental purchases by children in families, etc.  Or to just hide it if not interested in the store.  Those preferences all still exist, although they have moved them to the more confusing Screen Time setting, which makes no sense, since the store has nothing to do with Screen Time.

But now Apple has removed all preferences and/or restrictions to hide or block Apple Music on the Mac.  Whenever there is a new iOS update, Apple turns Apple Music back on by default without your permission, but at least there is still a setting to hide Apple Music.  I guess they really want to force Apple Music on people by removing all settings on the Mac to hide it, even when you don't want to subscribe to it.  And the funny part is that now Apple says the Mac is not a qualifying device for Apple Music extended trials, yet they force you to have Apple Music in the Music app.  People should be able to hide it if they won't wish to purchase the service.

AppleZulu

maciekskontakt said:

Interesting move as Amazon now offers 4 months free for their service with the same pricing and working on many devices and not just Apple.

It's good to see that Amazon followed Apple's lead and stopped charging extra for HD (I'm assuming this means lossless, but I'm not sure) audio and spatial audio. It's not entirely clear, but it looks like you still can't play Amazon spatial audio through a surround-sound home theater speaker system. It appears it's only available via headphones and 'smart speakers.'