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Apple Music

Apple Music noted its most popular song and artists of 2022.

Apple Music is a popular streaming service that offers subscribers access to a vast library of over 100 million songs, curated playlists, radio stations, and exclusive content, competing directly with platforms like Spotify and Tidal.

Although available on a wide range of devices — including iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, Apple TVs, Windows PCs, and Android devices — the streaming service also integrates seamlessly with Apple’s ecosystem, leveraging features like Siri voice control and iCloud Music Library to sync users’ personal collections across devices.

The service operates on a subscription model, with plans including an individual tier at $10.99 per month, a family plan for up to six users at $16.99 per month, and a student plan at $5.99 per month, alongside a limited free tier that includes access to purchased music and Beats 1 radio.

One of the standout features is its emphasis on human curation, setting it apart from algorithm-heavy competitors. The platform offers expertly crafted playlists tailored to genres, moods, or activities, alongside personalized recommendations driven by listening habits. It also includes 24/7 global radio stations, such as Apple Music 1 (formerly Beats 1), hosted by prominent DJs like Zane Lowe, as well as genre-specific stations like Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country. Exclusive releases from major artists, live performances, and original content — like music documentaries and artist interviews — further enhance its appeal.

Additionally, Apple Music supports high-quality audio, including lossless streaming and Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos, providing an immersive listening experience for audiophiles.

The service also integrates with HomePod and CarPlay, making it a versatile choice for Apple-centric households. While it lacks a robust free ad-supported tier compared to Spotify, deep integration with Apple’s hardware, focus on premium audio, and commitment to artist-driven content make it a compelling option for music lovers seeking a polished, all-in-one streaming experience.

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Apple Music:

How to find your music stats with Apple Music Replay 2025

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Apple Music Replay graphic
Find your top songs of the year.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple Music Replay is a great way to find your music stats for the past year: the most played songs, artists and albums in the last 12 months. Similar to Spotify Wrapped and the like, your annual Apple Music Replay is a fun way to see what tracks you listened to most.

Fun fact: Apple usually publicizes Apple Music Replay in December, but it’s actually updated weekly and available throughout the whole year! You can check in whenever you want to see how your year is shaping up.

We’ll show you how to find it and how to share your top music of the year to your friends and social media.

Spotify’s latest tool makes switching from Apple Music effortless

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Spotify Playlist transfer tool
Import your music into Spotify in just a few taps.
Image: Spotify

Spotify just made it easier to import your music library from other streaming services. And you can do this directly from its mobile app. 

The company has partnered with popular third-party service TuneMyMusic to integrate this functionality into its app.

Apple Music’s Artist of the Year really is off the charts

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2025 Apple Music Artist of the Year
Apple Music celebrated Tyler, The Creator as its 2025 Artist of the Year for the impact he had on music and culture over the past 12 months.
Photo: Apple

Apple Music crowned rapper Tyler, The Creator as its 2025 Artist of the Year on Thursday, honoring the hip-hop innovator’s remarkable creative output and cultural influence over the past 12 months. With streaming minutes numbering in the billions, the guy gives new meaning to “off the charts.”

This year has been Tyler’s most successful to date across Apple Music’s platform. Between November 2024 and October 2025, fans worldwide streamed his music for more than 4.5 billion minutes, marking career highs in plays, listeners and total listening hours on the service.

How to quickly queue songs on Apple Music (and clear the queue)

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Play This One Next
Your phone can DJ for you.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

You can queue songs in Apple Music so the tracks you want to hear play automatically, one after another. You don’t need to wait for the song to end and manually play the next one. And if you want to start over, you can quickly clear the queue as well. 

Plus, you can let friends add songs to the queue from their own phones — even if they don’t have an Apple Music subscription. Watch our video or keep reading below.

Today in Apple history: The Beatles beat Apple in court … again

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Beatles
Apple versus The Beatles is one of the less-likely feuds in Apple history.
Image: Apple Corps.

October 9: Today in Apple history: The Beatles beat Apple in court October 9, 1991: A court orders Apple to pay $26.5 million to Apple Corps, The Beatles’ record label and holding company, for trademark infringement. The end of this Beatles versus Apple lawsuit marks the second time Cupertino is forced to pay the English rock band.

The ruling comes a decade after Apple swore it would never get into the music business.

Today in Apple history: Ping social network fails to strike a chord

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Screenshot of Apple webpage for its Ping social music network, which launched with iTunes 10
Apple's music social network starts strong but fails fast.
Photo: Apple

September 1: Today in Apple history: Apple's Ping social network fails to strike a chord September 1, 2010: Apple’s new music-focused social network, Ping, ships as part of iTunes 10. Apple says the service will let users discover new music and more easily follow their favorite artists.

Ping racks up 1 million signups in the first 48 hours. Nevertheless, Apple’s social network is doomed from the start.

New tool lets you easily transfer music from Spotify to Apple Music

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Apple Music migration tool
The Apple Music migration tool makes it easy to transfer music from services like Spotify to Apple Music.
Photo: Apple/Spotify/Rajesh Pandey

Apple significantly expanded availability of its Apple Music migration tool, bringing the service to the United States and eight other major markets this week after months of limited testing. It helps users transfer their music libraries from competing streaming services like Spotify.

Here’s how much you’ll save with Apple One bundles [Updated]

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Apple One
Save up to $32 a month with an Apple One bundle.
Image: Apple/Cult of Mac

The Apple One subscription bundle lets users save money on Apple’s subscription services like Apple Music, Apple TV+ and iCloud+ storage. The company offers three Apple One configurations. Check pricing on Apple One’s three tiers — Individual, Family and Premier — and find out what you get for your money (and, most importantly, how much you can save).

With a recent price increase for Apple TV+, Apple One just became an even better deal!

Catch US vs. Mexico Leagues Cup soccer action via MLS Season Pass

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Leagues Cup on MLS Season Pass
Fans in more than 100 countries and regions can watch every match of the Leagues Cup 2025 tournament via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Photo: Apple

Apple TV’s MLS Season Pass will once again serve as the exclusive global streaming destination for the Leagues Cup, North America’s premier cross-league soccer tournament that kicked off Tuesday and runs through August.

The monthlong competition brings together clubs from Major League Soccer and Mexico’s Liga MX in what organizers call the first in-season club tournament across all men’s professional sports in North America.

Apple Music’s new Replay All Time expands on annual faves list

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Apple Music Replay All Time
Apple Music launches Replay All Time, a special version of the annual Replay experience that allows listeners to see and stream the songs they’ve played the most since joining Apple Music.
Photo: Apple Music

Apple Music Replay All Time launched Monday, letting listeners see which tracks they’ve played over their history with the service.

It comes as part of a broader 10th-anniversary celebration for the music-streaming service. Other upgrades include an upcoming top-500 Apple Music tracks countdown, special programming on Apple Music Radio and a new Apple Music studio planned to open in Los Angeles this summer.

Today in Apple history: Apple Music 1 radio station brings 24/7 radio to Apple Music

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Screenshot shows Beats 1 radio on Apple Music on an iPhone.
Free round-the-clock radio came to Apple Music on this day in 2015.
Photo: Apple

June 30: Today in Apple history: iPad surpasses 100,000 exclusive apps June 30, 2015: Apple launches 24/7 radio station Apple Music 1 (launched originally as Beats 1). Part of Apple Music, the new global radio station features top DJs ranging from former BBC presenter Zane Lowe to top musical artists like Lil Wayne.

Apple calls Apple Music 1 “the biggest radio station in the world” and says it beats (no pun intended) all other music stations when it comes to concurrent listeners. However, without hard figures to back that up, some call out Cupertino on this claim.

Apple Music marks 10 years with new bleeding-edge music studio

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Apple Music 10th anniversary
Apple dedicates its new studio space in Los Angeles to artist-driven content, innovation in audio and deeper fan connection.
Photo: Apple Music

Apple Music celebrates its 10th anniversary by opening an ambitious new creative music facility in Los Angeles, in addition to offering special programming on Apple Music Radio, the iPhone giant said Monday. The new studio signals the streaming service’s commitment to supporting artists and expanding beyond traditional music streaming.

“Apple Music Radio has always been a home for storytelling and artistry, serving as a space for bold conversations and surprising moments,” said Rachel Newman, Apple Music’s co-head. “With this new studio, we are furthering our commitment to creating a space for artists to create, connect and share their vision.”

AI updates bring new tricks to Apple Maps, Music, Wallet and more across devices

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OS 26 AI updates
A slew of new features will come in core Apple services across devices this fall.
Photo: Apple

Updates coming this fall to core Apple services like Maps, Music and Wallet focus heavily on artificial intelligence integration and personalization. The updates promise to make everyday tasks more intuitive and enjoyable for users across the Apple ecosystem.

Apple Music wants to make switching from other music services easier

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Spotify to Apple Music migration.
A new tool from Apple makes migrating from Apple Music to Spotify easier.
Photo: Apple/Spotify/Rajesh Pandey

A new tool from Apple will make it easier to import your playlists and library from Spotify to Apple Music. As part of a limited rollout, the company currently offers this feature in Australia and New Zealand.

Apple joined forces with SongShift, a popular playlist transfer tool, to bring this feature to life.

Apple Music’s Sound Therapy enhances songs to help you focus, relax and sleep

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Apple Music Sound Therapy
Sound Therapy takes familiar music and ups its therapeutic value.
Photo: Apple

In partnership with Universal Music Group, Apple Music on Tuesday launched Sound Therapy, a collection of specially enhanced tracks designed to help listeners achieve wellness through better focus, deeper relaxation and improved sleep.

It combines the power of your favorite music with cognitive science to improve daily well-being, the companies said in a press release.

“Given Apple’s leadership at the intersection of health and technology, the launch of Sound Therapy represents an important validation of our innovative, science-led Sollos initiative,” said Michael Nash, UMG’s executive vice president and chief digital officer. “We look forward to working closely with the team at Apple to expand the ways that music can be harnessed to improve the wellness benefits for its users.”

Apple soft-launches all-in-one site to follow celebs

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Apple Snapshot website
Apple's new Snapshot website offers a limited way to see your favorite celeb's work across Apple entertainment services.
Photo: Apple

With zero fanfare Apple launched a new website Tuesday called “Snapshot.” It appears they designed it as a discovery platform for fans to learn more about celebrities across Apple’s ecosystem of services, like Apple TV+, Apple Music and Apple Podcasts.

While the concept shows promise, the execution leaves much to be desired in its current form because it’s so limited.

Today in Apple history: iTunes Music Store opens its doors

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The iTunes Music Store revolutionized the music industry.
The iTunes Music Store revolutionized the music industry.
Photo: Apple

April 28: Today in Apple history: iTunes Music Store launches April 28, 2003: Apple opens the iTunes Music Store, revolutionizing the music industry and digital distribution of content.

At a time when getting music online mostly means illegal downloads from pirate services like Napster, iTunes quickly proves that customers will pay for songs — provided the service is good enough.

9 reasons you should ditch Spotify for Apple Music

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Apple Music better than Spotify?
Could it be? Sure, I think so.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple Music vs. Spotify: While Apple Music still lags behind Spotify when it comes to paying subscribers, in my opinion, Apple Music is the better service. It offers more advanced features like live lyrics, karaoke, lossless and spatial audio.

And for music aficionados, you can upload your own ripped recordings and MP3s. You have full control over your music library. Plus the Apple Music Classical app gives you a first-class experience learning and discovering classical music.

Here are the nine things keeping me on Apple Music — and why you should switch away from Spotify. You can also watch the video right here.

Get your groove on with iPhone’s free ambient music feature

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Ad-Free Ambient Music
Throw on some background sounds without any fuss.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

If you like working, sleeping, relaxing or meditating to ambient music — and you own an iPhone — you’re in luck. You can now play background tunes from Control Center on your iPhone. The feature is ad-free and doesn’t require a subscription to Apple Music.

If you usually put on a lo-fi music stream on YouTube, you should give this new feature a shot instead. You don’t need to keep the YouTube app open, and annoying ads won’t interrupt you.

Here’s how the iPhone’s ambient music feature works.

Dolby Atmos comes to Apple Music for Windows

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Dolby Atmos comes to Apple Music for Windows
Windows users can now enjoy the immersive listening Apple users have loved since 2021.
Photo: Apple

In a major enhancement to Apple Music for Windows PCs, Apple rolled out support for Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio. This long-awaited feature brings the immersive audio experience that Apple users have enjoyed since 2021 to the Windows platform for the first time.

Today in Apple history: Apple goes to war with The Beatles again

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Beatles
The Beatles' clash with Apple ran for almost 30 years.
Photo: Apple Corps

March 30: Today in Apple history: Apple goes to war with The Beatles again March 30, 2006: A court case begins that once again pits Apple Computer against Apple Corps, aka The Beatles’ record label and holding company.

The lawsuit caps a long-running legal battle between the two wealthy companies. It’s the final fight in an epic legal battle over music, technology and money.

All part of the plan: Apple TV+ loses $1 billion a year

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Apple TV+ loses money
The losses sound bad, but they're to be expected and represent a drop in the bucket compared to Apple's profits.
Photo: Apple TV+

As Apple TV+’s subscriber base continues to grow and the streamer enjoys lots of attention on Friday’s Severance season 2 finale, a new report Thursday suggests the streaming service remains a financial loser for the iPhone giant — to the tune of $1 billion in losses annually. And yet it should come as no surprise Apple TV+ bleeds money.

A fat billion a year in the red sounds bad, but it’s pretty much in line with the plan for losses of up to $20 billion over a decade for the still-nascent streaming service.

Here’s your introduction to Apple Music Classical

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Class up the joint
An elegant streaming service for a more civilized age.
Image: Public domain/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Apple Music Classical is a new app for iPhone specifically designed as a great experience for browsing and listening to instrumental music. Its catalog of 5 million tracks has been carefully curated and tagged by composer, work, movement, instrument, orchestra, artist and more.

Why does there need to be a separate app for classical music? Apple says it succinctly on its support page: classical music “has longer and more detailed titles, multiple artists for each work, and hundreds of recordings of well-known pieces.” This app “is designed to support the complex data structure of classical music.”

This is how to discover, find, add and listen to music in Apple Music Classical.

Feel the rhythm (literally) with Music Haptics on iPhone

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Feel The Beat In Your Hand
Add another level to your music.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

The new Music Haptics accessibility feature in iOS 18 adds another dimension to audio: vibration. Taking advantage of the incredible precision of the iPhone’s Taptic Engine, the feature brings to life a specially recorded track of rhythmic vibrations and buzzing patterns timed to certain Apple Music songs.

Switch it on, and you can hold your iPhone in your hands and feel your music in a whole new way. Keep reading to see how the feature works (or watch our video that explains it all).

Get six months of Apple Music for just under $3

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First-time Apple Music subscribers get just a 1-month free trial now (unless they bought an Apple device).
Apple Music's biggest offer gets you six month of subscription for less than $3!
Photo: Apple

For a limited time, Apple is running a promo offering six months of Apple Music subscription for just $2.99. That’s just $3 for six months, leading to substantial savings.

Without the promo, new Apple Music subscribers would have to pay $10.99 monthly for the streaming service.