Apple Music's Cheapest Plan Has Been Discontinued
Jack Picone
It's been a big week of change for Apple, which recently unveiled new
chips and computers and rolled out its Apple Pay Later feature that had
previously been in beta. Another big change is to Apple Music, because
Apple has discontinued its cheapest tier: the Apple Music Voice Plan.
The low-cost tier of Apple Music had previously allowed budget-conscious
Apple Music subscribers to access the platform's full catalog for $5 per
month, without ads. The catch was right in the name: users could only
play songs by using their voice, through Apple's smart assistant — Siri.
In addition to being an affordable way to stream music, Apple Music
Voice Plan was ideal for users who primarily used the app through
HomePod — Apple's voice-controlled smart speaker — as well as other
Siri-enabled devices like Apple TV, Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. But
SlashGear has noted several ways the plan was far inferior to
higher-priced Apple Music tiers. Besides being limited to how you could
control the app and select music, users were also unable to create
custom playlists or even add songs to their libraries. Plus, songs were
only available in standard quality, unlike other tiers which provided
lossless and Dolby Atmos tracks. Siri could also struggle with songs and
artists with unusual or hard-to-pronounce names.
With all these drawbacks, Apple Music Voice Plan may not be missed by
many, though users might not be thrilled to have to switch to a more
expensive tier. Subscribing to the plan has been discontinued as an
option, and current subscriptions will likely be ended by Apple in the
near future.
Apple is raising prices for other subscriptions
Apple hasn't publicly given a reason why it's discontinuing the Apple
Music Voice Plan, but the move comes with recent price hikes to several
of its subscription services. Apple TV+, the company's streaming
platform that has had big success with TV shows like "Ted Lasso," will
have its price raised from $6.99 per month to $9.99 per month. The move
has been met with some dismay from current subscribers, namely because
the streaming library of Apple TV+ is considerably smaller than its
major competitors.
Apple Arcade and Apple News are also seeing price increases to $6.99 and
$12.99, respectively. The company has pushed its users to subscribe to
Apple One since its launch in 2020, which bundles several of its
services at a discount and includes access to Apple Music, Apple TV+,
Apple Arcade, and iCloud+. However, the monthly rate for Apple One has
also just gone up, from $16.95 to $19.95 for individuals and from $22.95
to $25.95 for the Family plan. Its most expensive Premier plan — which
includes Fitness+, News+, and additional iCloud storage — also increased
to $37.95. All of these price changes were made effective immediately
for new customers, while existing subscribers can expect to see their
bills go up within a month.
For Apple Music Voice Plans, subscribers looking to stick with Apple
Music will have to upgrade to either the $10.99 per month Individual
plan or $16.99 per month Family Plan. Students, however, can take
advantage of a cheaper $5.99 per month Student tier (that can be
controlled with more than just Siri).
https://www.slashgear.com/1436420/apple-music-siri-voice-plan-discontinued/
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