Apple begins offering half-price $4.99 Apple Music subscriptions for students

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in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
Starting today, students enrolled in an eligible college or university will today be able to subscribe to Apple Music at a discounted price, as Apple is offering half off the standard subscription rate for its streaming music service.




The new student pricing began rolling out on Friday in Australia, and is expected to arrive in other markets,?including the U.S., according to TechCrunch. In America, where a single standard monthly subscription to Apple Music costs $9.99, students will be able to pay $4.99 for the same level of service.

Eligible participants must be able to prove that they are a student at a qualified school, and the reduced price is available for up to four years following enrollment. The years do not need to be continuous, so students who take a break from school can regain their eligibility once they return to finish classes.

In addition to the U.S., half-price Apple Music subscriptions are also confirmed to be available in the U.K., Germany, Denmark, Ireland, and New Zealand. In each market, the pricing will be 50 percent off the standard local pricing.

Apple is working with UNiDAYS to verify that students who sign up are actually enrolled in classes.

Last week, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook revealed that Apple Music has 13 million paid subscribers. That was up from 11 million subscribers two months prior.

Apple is expected to revamp Apple Music this year, and unveil the upcoming changes at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June. Among the changes said to be in the works are a shakeup to the product's user interface, aiming to make it easier to use.

Apple also reportedly plans to expand the Beats 1 radio service, and could potentially add new, live streaming stations to the lineup. And the company is also said to be planning a marketing blitz that will promote the new changes after they are unveiled at WWDC, which is set to kick off on June 13.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    linkmanlinkman Posts: 1,035member
    My daughter would jump on this but she says that there is no way she will manually recreate all of her Spotify playlists. If she had a way to automatically export and import them...
  • Reply 2 of 20
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    about time they use tactics like all the other streaming music services use to boost their paid user count....good for Apple. Now we are playing on an even playing field...and the weak will be exposed.

    http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2015/05/1-for-3-months-of-spotify-premium-is-back-but-with-no-ads-how-are-artists-label-getting-paid.html
    edited May 2016 moreck
  • Reply 3 of 20
    levilevi Posts: 344member
    sog35 said:
    This should be the price for everyone.

    Its nuts that music streaming is charging $10 for A SINGLE USER while Neflix offers movies for THREE DEVICES for $8. That is ridiculous.

    In order to get real penetration the standard price should be $5 for individual and $8 for family plan.
    Apple Music and other streaming services have the full catelog with some exceptions. Netflix on the other hand is comparatively limited - which is ordinal why they're going into content development. Apple Music content is implicitly available forever. Netflix content is often time limited. Users may also listen to a song or album hundreds of times, whereas a show or movies one or a handful of times. I also suspect it costs more for music services to secure the content. Just some thoughts. 
    moreck
  • Reply 4 of 20
    ahx1ahx1 Posts: 6member
    linkman said:
    My daughter would jump on this but she says that there is no way she will manually recreate all of her Spotify playlists. If she had a way to automatically export and import them...
    Hey, I had the same issue and used http://movetoapple.com, worked like a charm!
    edited May 2016 latifbpxbitlinkmanmoreck
  • Reply 5 of 20
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    sog35 said:
    This should be the price for everyone.

    Its nuts that music streaming is charging $10 for A SINGLE USER while Neflix offers movies for THREE DEVICES for $8. That is ridiculous.

    In order to get real penetration the standard price should be $5 for individual and $8 for family plan.
    Not going to happen. In the week after Prince died over 4 million records & singles were sold. He's not on any streaming service except Tidal. Prince shows people will pay for good music. The problem these days is most music sucks hence why people are renting over buying. Prince once said people value things less when they get them for free. He's right. Look at the App Store. Good quality apps struggle because people are conditioned to free or 99 cent apps with stupid IAP. Maybe one of the reasons there's so much garbage music is because people don't want to pay for it.
  • Reply 6 of 20
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    linkman said:
    My daughter would jump on this but she says that there is no way she will manually recreate all of her Spotify playlists. If she had a way to automatically export and import them...
    Try the app SongShift. There's a free and paid version. It worked quite well for me though Music still has issues correctly matching songs. In some cases they matched a song to a greatest hits album or something instead of the original album. Weird.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    sog35 said:
    This should be the price for everyone.

    Its nuts that music streaming is charging $10 for A SINGLE USER while Neflix offers movies for THREE DEVICES for $8. That is ridiculous.

    In order to get real penetration the standard price should be $5 for individual and $8 for family plan.
    Not going to happen. In the week after Prince died over 4 million records & singles were sold. He's not on any streaming service except Tidal. Prince shows people will pay for good music. The problem these days is most music sucks hence why people are renting over buying. Prince once said people value things less when they get them for free. He's right. Look at the App Store. Good quality apps struggle because people are conditioned to free or 99 cent apps with stupid IAP. Maybe one of the reasons there's so much garbage music is because people don't want to pay for it.
    Or maybe you just got old (at least your tastes did...), There was plenty of garbage in the past, it's just that since you had to actually ship physical media, it died out quicker.
    I used to follow all the billboard charts (and in a way still do, but less fervently) and my my there was always trash on every one of them.

    The best charts were in the late 1960s and early 1980s, early 1990s not good AT ALL.

    There is plenty of good music around. I'm 48 so the music of my youth was music like Price, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Doesn't mean there is nothing comparable these days. I'd say there is even more good songs, but less coming from mass marketers and more from the countless niche creators. The problem is that its hard for those smaller sellers to make a living in a streaming world.

    PS: I'll agree thought that the billboard chart the last few months has been pretty bad, the worse in quite a while.
    But it's cyclical, a few years back 2012-13, we had folk/Rock at the top of the charts and I love this kind of thing.
    moreck
  • Reply 8 of 20
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    NY1822 said:
    about time they use tactics like all the other streaming music services use to boost their paid user count....good for Apple. Now we are playing on an even playing field...and the weak will be exposed.

    http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2015/05/1-for-3-months-of-spotify-premium-is-back-but-with-no-ads-how-are-artists-label-getting-paid.html

    Nah, Apple will probably get sued by the government for predatory pricing, or collusion, or something, anything.
    moreck
  • Reply 9 of 20
    levilevi Posts: 344member
    linkman said:
    My daughter would jump on this but she says that there is no way she will manually recreate all of her Spotify playlists. If she had a way to automatically export and import them...
    I believe there apps that accomplish this
    moreck
  • Reply 10 of 20
    singularitysingularity Posts: 1,328member
    levi said:
    linkman said:
    My daughter would jump on this but she says that there is no way she will manually recreate all of her Spotify playlists. If she had a way to automatically export and import them...
    I believe there apps that accomplish this
    Or just have that ability baked in?
    moreck
  • Reply 11 of 20
    isteelersisteelers Posts: 738member
    sog35 said:
    This should be the price for everyone.

    Its nuts that music streaming is charging $10 for A SINGLE USER while Neflix offers movies for THREE DEVICES for $8. That is ridiculous.

    In order to get real penetration the standard price should be $5 for individual and $8 for family plan.
    While I would welcome cheaper prices, I don't think $10-$15 bucks a month for the catalog of music you have to choose from is a bad deal.  I can't count how much money I spent on records, tapes and CDs growing up, having to buy entire albums to get the few songs I wanted to listen to.  Them having to record the albums and CDs on to mix tapes to play in the car.  I have most of the music I like, and usually go to YouTube to listen to stuff I may want to buy later, but for all you get for only $10, streaming is a great deal regardless if it is Apple Music or Spotify. 
    moreck
  • Reply 12 of 20
    xbitxbit Posts: 390member
    ahx1 said:
    linkman said:
    My daughter would jump on this but she says that there is no way she will manually recreate all of her Spotify playlists. If she had a way to automatically export and import them...
    Hey, I had the same issue and used http://movetoapple.com, worked like a charm!
    Awesome! Thanks for the link.
    moreck
  • Reply 13 of 20
    linkmanlinkman Posts: 1,035member
    ahx1 said:
    linkman said:
    My daughter would jump on this but she says that there is no way she will manually recreate all of her Spotify playlists. If she had a way to automatically export and import them...
    Hey, I had the same issue and used http://movetoapple.com, worked like a charm!
    She texted me and said she may try it now. Thanks!
    moreck
  • Reply 14 of 20
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    foggyhill said:
    Not going to happen. In the week after Prince died over 4 million records & singles were sold. He's not on any streaming service except Tidal. Prince shows people will pay for good music. The problem these days is most music sucks hence why people are renting over buying. Prince once said people value things less when they get them for free. He's right. Look at the App Store. Good quality apps struggle because people are conditioned to free or 99 cent apps with stupid IAP. Maybe one of the reasons there's so much garbage music is because people don't want to pay for it.
    Or maybe you just got old (at least your tastes did...), There was plenty of garbage in the past, it's just that since you had to actually ship physical media, it died out quicker.
    I used to follow all the billboard charts (and in a way still do, but less fervently) and my my there was always trash on every one of them.

    The best charts were in the late 1960s and early 1980s, early 1990s not good AT ALL.

    There is plenty of good music around. I'm 48 so the music of my youth was music like Price, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Doesn't mean there is nothing comparable these days. I'd say there is even more good songs, but less coming from mass marketers and more from the countless niche creators. The problem is that its hard for those smaller sellers to make a living in a streaming world.

    PS: I'll agree thought that the billboard chart the last few months has been pretty bad, the worse in quite a while.
    But it's cyclical, a few years back 2012-13, we had folk/Rock at the top of the charts and I love this kind of thing.
    Well I'll admit I don't listen to a lot of radio these days because most of the time I end up having to turn it off right away. It's sad to me when someone like Taylor Swift is lauded as some genius. When Prince performed with Beyoncé at the Grammy awards he told her to learn how to play the piano because it was a skill that helped people like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles become better singers. How many top charting artists these days even play musical instruments? Plus too many radio stations all sound the same as they're owned by the same company - iHeart - and play the same garbage 24/7.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    rmfpdxrmfpdx Posts: 19member
    Beats 1, no. Every time I've tried to check it out, it's all rap "music." Don't want that awful, trashy, hate-filled noise in my head. Ever since Apple acquired Beats, it has tarnished Apple's brand for me. 
  • Reply 16 of 20
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    Until Apple Music doesn't require iTunes Match, I will stick with Spotify. Apple Music destroyed my music library twice. I will never use it again. 
    stevenoz
  • Reply 17 of 20
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    foggyhill said:
    Or maybe you just got old (at least your tastes did...), There was plenty of garbage in the past, it's just that since you had to actually ship physical media, it died out quicker.
    I used to follow all the billboard charts (and in a way still do, but less fervently) and my my there was always trash on every one of them.

    The best charts were in the late 1960s and early 1980s, early 1990s not good AT ALL.

    There is plenty of good music around. I'm 48 so the music of my youth was music like Price, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Doesn't mean there is nothing comparable these days. I'd say there is even more good songs, but less coming from mass marketers and more from the countless niche creators. The problem is that its hard for those smaller sellers to make a living in a streaming world.

    PS: I'll agree thought that the billboard chart the last few months has been pretty bad, the worse in quite a while.
    But it's cyclical, a few years back 2012-13, we had folk/Rock at the top of the charts and I love this kind of thing.
    Well I'll admit I don't listen to a lot of radio these days because most of the time I end up having to turn it off right away. It's sad to me when someone like Taylor Swift is lauded as some genius. When Prince performed with Beyoncé at the Grammy awards he told her to learn how to play the piano because it was a skill that helped people like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles become better singers. How many top charting artists these days even play musical instruments? Plus too many radio stations all sound the same as they're owned by the same company - iHeart - and play the same garbage 24/7.
    She's no "genius" and I don't think Prince was either; I thought many of his post 1990s output was really horrible and you're talking to someone who bought everything he put out from the 1970s to the early 1990s. There is a reason he stopped selling.

    From a "genius" perspective, nothing beats the Beatles. Other artists only have fleeting moments of genius in their careers.
    The 1982-1986 period was great for music and had many of those genius moments at the same time.

    Swift plays the guitar, she always has a guitar on stage and I'm pretty sure she plays the piano and keyboard too (she was on BBC lounge  playing the piano on a song I can't remember).. The BBC Live lounge program (and the youtube videos) is a good way to see how artists sound live.

    Maybe you're a "bit" biased :-). Swift's songwriting skills are actually pretty good. She's written songs in a pretty wide range of styles, actually broader than Prince.  I actually own all Prince's albums from the 1970s to the 1990s. But, I do like Swift too; they're not mutually exclusive.

    If your able to sell nearly 200M singles, or albums; it's not merely a fluke... Same with Rihanna, who is the best seller in the last 15 years (just before Swift) (though her last Album (ANTI) is total crap, not sure what happened there!!)

    Many of today's top non hip hop artist actually play an instrument. Even in the HipHop world, people like Pharell, Lamarr and many others play instruments.

    Being a musicians is tough, you usually don't get there and stay there because you're a slacker.

    edited May 2016 moreck
  • Reply 18 of 20
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Until Apple Music doesn't require iTunes Match, I will stick with Spotify. Apple Music destroyed my music library twice. I will never use it again. 
    Why not just back your music? I don't those problems have been ironed out a while back. In fact I have not heard a word about this in many months.
    moreck
  • Reply 19 of 20
    moreckmoreck Posts: 187member
    Until Apple Music doesn't require iTunes Match, I will stick with Spotify. Apple Music destroyed my music library twice. I will never use it again. 
    If you don't keep a backup, you have no one but yourself to blame.
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