Upcoming 'Apple Music' Streaming Service to Include Three-Month Free Trial

beats_screenshotAhead of the introduction of Apple's new streaming music platform, Financial Times has shared some key details about the service, confirming it will be called simply "Apple Music." With the launch of the service, Apple will be largely abandoning its iTunes branding, using the name only for the online store.

As has been previously shared, Apple will not be offering a freemium ad-supported listening tier like Spotify, and will charge $9.99 per month for the service. Apple plans to draw customers in by offering a three-month free trial, much longer than the 30 days competing services offer.

Apple's new music service is built upon Beats Music, its existing subscription service that it acquired last year. Apple executives heavily lauded Beats Music's emphasis on human curation and customization, with many of the features in Beats Music remaining in the new streaming service. For example, the new music service will continue to ask users to select favorite musical genres and styles, and paired with recommendations from artists, Apple hopes to help listeners discover songs.

Apple's iTunes Radio is also being revamped and potentially renamed, as it is being positioned as a free companion service to Apple's streaming music offering. We have previously heard that Apple's new version of iTunes Radio will be aimed primarily at users who are not in the United States, serving as a gateway service to entice people to pay for music.

Apple plans to use well-known DJs and celebrities to present music on its new radio service, and has hired several BBC Radio DJs like Zane Lowe to market the service in Europe.

Some of the celebrities who were photographed wearing Apple Watches ahead of its launch earlier this year, such as rapper Drake, will soon be acting as DJs on Apple's new radio service, which will emphasise the personal tastes of artists over using algorithms to curate music, as Pandora does.

Apple plans to unveil its new music service at its WWDC keynote, taking place on Monday. The new streaming service and the new radio service will both be built into the revamped Music app introduced in iOS 8.4.

Popular Stories

CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
tvOS 18 Thumb 1

Apple Releases tvOS 18.4.1

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.4.1, a minor update to the tvOS 18 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 18.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple released tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.4.1 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
iPhone Security Feature 25

Five iPhone Security Features You Should Be Using

Wednesday April 16, 2025 4:15 pm PDT by
Apple has quite a few security features that it's added to iPhones, iPads, and Macs over the years. Now more than ever, it's important to make sure you're taking advantage of the built-in security tools that are available to keep yourself and your data safe, so we've rounded up a list of the most important options. If you don't already have these enabled, you might want to consider turning...
vision air cable

Images of Apple 'Vision Air' Power Cable Emerge Online

Thursday April 17, 2025 5:55 am PDT by
More images of a redesigned power cable allegedly for a future Apple "Vision Air" headset were today shared online by the prototype collector and leaker known as "Kosutami." Yesterday, the leaker explained that the Apple "Vision Air" will feature a thinner design and switch the battery enclosure and several of its internal structures to titanium to reduce the device's overall weight. Most of ...

Top Rated Comments

OllyW Avatar
129 months ago
We have previously heard that Apple's new version of iTunes Radio will be aimed primarily at users who are not in the United States...
Is hell about to freeze over? :D
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
129 months ago
I hope this is a terrific service. 90 days free trial is impressive. However, I would think Apple will dominate the space quickly simply by embedding it into iOS... much like how Maps became the dominate mapping app on iOS by Apple deciding it shall be the default. No faulting 3 months to try it out... just saying it seems like they would get huge share by simply doing the Internet Explorer thing vs. Netscape (make it the default with the OS). For those so hungry for this, I hope you like it!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The Doctor11 Avatar
129 months ago
Nice! I'll take it!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MikeyCopeland Avatar
129 months ago
With the launch of the service, Apple will be largely abandoning its iTunes branding, using the name only for the online store.
Does this mean iTunes will also be renamed / replaced in OS X 10.11???
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Black Belt Avatar
129 months ago
Beats looks like Microsoft Zune software.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Godzilla71 Avatar
129 months ago
Very cool! Plenty of time to really test drive the new service. :)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)