All Info You Need to Know about Apple Music

At the 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference, when Apple finally introduced its music streaming service known as Apple Music, it took the first big step to leave behind the music-selling business that iTunes lead in terms of an all-you-can-stream scheme just like provided by Spotify.

You will be glad to know that basic concepts for Apple Music are quite easy to grab, but there a lot of things that users like you have doubts about. Isn’t, it right? That’s why we come up with this complete guide to help you clear your doubts regarding Apple Music. Here, in this guide, we will introduce what is Apple Music and its unique features.

What is Apple Music

Apple Music is a music streaming service offered by Apple, comparable to numerous other similar music streaming services including Spotify, Google Play Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, etc. Apple Music provides access to up to 45 million tracks. Users of this particular streaming service can stream content or download tracks for offline listening. In addition to it, there is also the availability of genre-based radio stations along with the Beats 1 radio station.

The good news is that Apple Music can be integrated with your existing iCloud Music Library and so, it means that you can combine your Apple Music tracks with tracks that you purchased via iTunes in one location.

Discover All Features of Apple Music

There is no denying that all streaming services are different from each other in some features. With the Apple Music service, Apple has put more emphasis on human curation. Even though there is an algorithmically curated playlist, lots of content on Apple Music is hard work of Apple Music editors. However, there are main four features of Apple Music:

Streaming Music

Apple Music’s marquee feature is its new Spotify-style music streaming service. During the period of digital music, Apple put emphasis on the sales of tracks and albums via the iTunes store. It was so successful to such an extent that Apple became the biggest music retailer, worldwide.

But, as streaming has completed replaced purchasing music CDs, the iTunes scheme has appealed to only a few people. When Apple introduced Beats Music, getting access to the Beats Music streaming service and app was the primary reason. With the Apple Music service, Apple introduced the Beats music notion – user-controlled streaming music, discovery features, customized playlists, subscription pricing – into the iTunes and the iOS music app.

Now, users are allowed to stream unlimited music along with saving albums and songs from the streaming service and integrating them with the stored music in their own library.

Radio

Apple Music comes with a modified version of iTunes Radio that enables users to create their own radio stations just like Pandora-style. The stations that you will create as based on the artists or songs. Plus, this music streaming service also comes up with a new 24/7 streaming radio station also called Beats 1 that is programmed by Julie Adenuga, Ebro Darden, and DJs Zane Lowe.

Curation

Apple rejects the concept that algorithms can determine what music you will like most and they replaced the concept with expert curation. It will appear in Apple Music in the playlist form created by albums and experts recommended based on the user’s listening habits.

Connect

A pseudo-social platform is there for fans so that they can connect to artists. In Apple Music, musicians are allowed to post content – photos, music, text, etc – and you can follow their updates, or comment on them, and much more. Here, you can also follow your friends and check what they are listening to as an approach to exploring new music. Plus, you can also share any Apple Music track or playlist with Twitter and Facebook.

Pricing and Subscription

At present, the Apple Music service is available in almost 100 countries. Unlike Spotify, it doesn’t provide a free ad-supported music tier. In short, you need to get a paid subscription to access the Apple Music content.

An Apple Music subscription costs $9.99/month and it is Apple Music’s monthly cost for an individual. However, if you are a college student, then you can register for a discounted Apple Music subscription and it costs $4.99/month. There is also a family plan that costs $14.00 per month and it is for up to 6 users to access the Apple Music content. A family subscription also needs a complete setup for Family sharing that needs all users in the family to use the same payment method for the iTunes billing procedure.

Free Trial

Apple provides free 3-month free trials for Apple Music. In some situations, it has been known to provide additional trial months to motivate listeners to register for a paid subscription.

How does Apple Music Work

You can stream tracks from the Apple Music library via the Music app or iTunes, with provided options to create playlists and save songs for offline listening. Apple Music will offer curated playlists, which include Favorites Mix and New Music playlists that it develops to your tastes; similar to Spotify does with its feature called Discover Weekly playlist.

To give it a better sense of your favorites, click the “For You” tab, click your account photo, scroll down to the bottom and click View Account. Finally, click “Choose Artists For You”. If you are using the Apple Watch with LTE, then you will use the “Radio app” in order to stream music to your wearable device.

How to Register and Set Up Apple Music

Once you made your mind to go for Apple Music as your music streaming service, all you need to do is to follow the below steps:

Step 1: Run the Apple Music app on your device or open iTunes on your PC or Mac.

Step 2: After that, you get to see an offer for subscribing to Apple Music when you open the app for the first time on your device. If you don’t see it, click “For You” located at the bottom. In iTunes on PC or Mac, tap the “For You” tab located at the top.

Step 3: Next, tap on the 3-month trial offer that is for one person only. Now, you need to choose your plan.

Step 4: After that, tap to “Use Existing Apple ID” and next, enter your Apple ID and password. Else, click on the “Create New Apple ID” if you don’t have one.

Step 5: Now, you may have to verify billing information and so, add a valid payment method if needed and choose “Join”.

Step 6: After completing the subscription process, you will get to see a sequence of bubbles that represent different genres. Tap those you like and double-click those you love. Once you have done with it, you will also be asked to do the same selection for artists you like.

What Features are Included in Apple Music Subscription

Unlike other music streaming services in the market, Apple music Subscription includes very interesting features:

• Unlimited access to songs on-demand
• Personalized and algorithmic playlists access
• Curated playlists
• Beats 1 Radio
• Mood-based playlists
• Access to several radio stations
• Offline track playback
• Syncing of tracks and playlists across several Apple music-compatible devices.
• Existing music matched to the catalog of iTunes and added to the iCloud music library.

Device Compatibility

Apple Music service works across all Apple devices, which include:

• iPhone ( CarPlay included)
• iPad
• Apple Watch
• Apple TV
• Mac ( in iTunes)
• HomePod

If you are not an Apple user, then you will be pleased to know that Apple Music also works on non-Apple devices. It provides full support for PCs with iTunes version, on Android devices with Apple Music app you can download from Google Play Store, on Sonos devices and also, on Amazon-branded echo devices.

Music Quality and DRM

Apple Music utilizes 256kb/s AAC files. You can download tracks from Apple Music for offline listening. However, the content downloaded from the service is DRM protected, like other music streaming services.

How to Cancel an Apple Music Subscription

When you subscribe to any Apple Music plan, your subscription renews every year or month using the payment details you entered while registering. What if you don’t want to take Apple Music subscription further? Then, you can disable this auto-renewal charge with the following steps:

Step 1: Run the Music app on a device or open iTunes on PC or Mac.

Step 2: Next, click the “For You” tab and click the “Account” icon or choose “Account”>” View My Account” in iTunes.

Step 3: On the device, click “View Apple ID” and then, click “Subscriptions” or tap the “Manage” button next to “Subscriptions” in iTunes.

Step 4: Now, choose your Apple Music membership and choose “Cancel subscription”.

You now won’t be charged when your current subscription runs out. If you would like to take the subscription again, then you have to re-enable Apple Music payment.

The Bottom Line

That’s all on about what is Apple Music and the unique features it offers to its users. According to the March 2018 survey, Apple Music has shown solid growth of its subscriber count, presently with 38 million. If you have any more doubts regarding this guide, please feel free to ask in the following comment section.