Apple Music just became a bit pricier. Apple raised the streaming service’s monthly rate across all subscription tiers on Friday, citing the increasing cost of licensing artists’ music.
The company also jacked up the price of most Apple One bundles, which package Apple Music with subscriptions to other Apple services.
Apple Music and Apple One price hikes
Apple’s latest subscription hike follows last month’s substantial price increases on most of the company’s hardware. While Apple CEO Tim Cook made a shrewd decision years ago to concentrate on services — which now generate more than 20% of Apple’s revenue — Friday’s price hike might annoy users already pummeled by inflation and the slow drip of monthly fees.
Cupertino positioned the Apple Music price hike as a necessary reaction to its own rising costs.
“As a result of rising licensing costs, Apple Music is increasing its subscription price beginning today,” the company told Variety on Friday.
High artist payouts and premium features
Apple Music pays some of the industry’s highest streaming rates, according to a 2024 report from Duetti. It pegged Apple Music’s payouts to artists at $6.2 per 1,000 streams, while chief rival Spotify paid a measly $3 per 1,000 streams. (Amazon Music paid out more, at $8.8 per 1,000 streams, according to the report.)
What do you get with your Apple Music subscription? In addition to unfettered access to more than 100 million songs, the company continues to add premium features to Apple Music in its quest to deliver the best listening experience around.
Features like lossless tracks, Spatial Audio, a slick karaoke mode called Apple Music Sing and a bespoke classical music app make Apple Music a great way to enjoy your favorite songs.
Apple Music “reached all-time highs in both listenership and new subscribers” last December, according to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services.
New prices for Apple Music and Apple One subscriptions
So, just how much did Apple jack up those Apple Music and Apple One prices? The new tiers cost as follows:
Apple Music: In the United States, individual and student plans rise a dollar each to $11.99 and $6.99 per month, respectively. Meanwhile, the family plan shoots up to $19.99 (previously $16.99).
Apple One: The family and premier plans rise $2 each to $27.95 and $39.95 per month, respectively. The individual plan remains unchanged at $19.95.
While Apple Music’s individual and family plans remain more affordable than market leader Spotify’s premium plans, Apple does not offer a free, ad-supported tier. Both services offer free trials.
The last Apple Music price hike came in 2022.
Lewis Wallace is the managing editor of Cult of Mac and author of our weekly newsletter, The Weekender.
He’s a San Francisco-based writer and editor specializing in technology and culture. He loves his iPhone, hates Siri, and appreciates any hardware that combines form and function.
Prior to Cult of Mac, he juggled words and ideas as culture editor at Wired.com, homepage editor at TechTV, news product manager at NBCi, copy editor at PC World, reporter at The (Hayward) Daily Review and editor in chief of EveryBody’s News in Cincinnati.
He earned a bachelor of general studies degree with a journalism certificate from the University of Cincinnati. While in school, he worked as the entertainment editor of The News Record and as editor in chief of Clifton Magazine.
He’s also a bass player, who’s recorded and performed around the United States with Those Darn Accordions, The Electric Boogie Dawgz and The Mad Maggies. When not writing, editing or laying down bass lines, he plays darts and serves on the board of the San Francisco Darts League.
