In 2021, Apple introduced the Plan Apple Music Voice as a cheap entry to the company’s music streaming service. This plan of 5 euros or five dollars depending on where you are, forced users to use the virtual assistant Siri to access Apple Music, the only way to access the Apple Music catalog is to request a song, genre, album or artist through voice commands.
It is true, it was a restrictive service but also cheap, and if you were not the type to launch the Apple Music application and take a look at all its content, it was the perfect plan, which offered full access to the Apple Music library, in a different but cheap way.
Two years later, the Apple Music Voice Plan comes to an end. As you know, Apple has removed references to the Apple Music Voice Plan from its website. Now, the only plans available are the students at 5.99 euros, the individual at 10.99 euros and the family package at 16.99 euros, The price in dollars is the same.
Index
Apple Music’s cheapest plan disappears
Remember that Apple is also offering Apple Music included in Apple One plans, which recently received their own price increase, like everything…
Apple in a statement on its website said the following:
“We are focused on delivering the best, most robust music experience possible for our customers, with features like immersive spatial audio, Apple Music Sing with real-time lyrics, intuitive navigation and discovery features, and much more. All Apple Music plans already work seamlessly with Siri, and we will continue to optimize this experience. »
Apple Music Voice subscribers can continue with their plan until the length of their final billing cycle, but will have auto-renewal turned off. They can then choose to switch to another Apple Music plan. This will cost them a little more; The Apple Music individual plan costs 10.99 euros per month, although students can get a subscription for 5.99 euros per month. There is also the Family Apple Music plan, which extends the subscription to up to six people, for 16.99 euros per month.
«Starting in November, Apple will discontinue the Apple Music Voice plan. “We are focused on delivering the best, most robust music experience possible for our customers, with features like immersive spatial audio, Apple Music Sing with real-time lyrics, intuitive navigation and discovery features, and much more.”
When Apple released the version iOS 17.1 beta, code references were found indicating that Apple would soon be killing off the company’s cheapest music plan to date.
The company did not provide a reason why the plan was discontinued, but we assume that he was not earning enough from it, and it was in the company’s best interest to remove it from the service catalog.
The good thing is that very likely, few users were fans of the restricted nature of the plan, since no real-time lyrics or options to add songs to your library or create custom playlists, for example. In addition, the Voice Plan, as its name suggests, was also restricted to use with Siri and was not in all the countries that Apple Music is with its conventional plans.
Apple Music Voice and Siri
For anyone missing the experience of using Apple Music with just Siri, the company reminded users that All Apple Music plans, both individual, student, family and finally the Apple One plan, allow subscribers to use Siriincluding Type to Siri, to play any song, album, playlist, or radio station.
The Voice Plan has been officially removed from Apple’s website. Subscribers of this voice plan can continue to use the plan for the duration of their final billing cycle, but automatic renewal has been disabled.
Apple has published a support document regarding the cancellation of the Apple Music Voice Plan, stating that the company is “focused on delivering the best and most robust music experience possible for our customers,” and that “All Apple Music plans already work seamlessly with Siri, and we will continue to optimize this experience.”
According to the document, current Voice Plan subscribers will not be automatically renewed and the plan will be closed at the end of their billing cycle. The user will receive a notification before the cycle ends about which plans they can switch to.
The Apple Music Voice Plan seemed like a good idea when it was introduced. Not only was it a cheap way to get Apple Music, but it seemed suitable for the HomePod, HomePod mini, Apple Watch, and Apple CarPlay. It also seemed like a suitable plan for Apple glasses, if they ever hit the market. But the Voice Plan has many restrictions, such as no Dolby audio support, no lyrics displayed, and you had to always be connected to the Internet.
Conclusion
Apple doesn’t publish subscriber numbers and data, so no one outside of Apple knows how many people used the Apple Music Voice Plan. But since Apple discontinued it, there probably weren’t many.
The Cupertino guys’ abandonment of this attempt to offer a cheaper Apple Music option reflects the changes that other streaming providers have also made, including YouTube and Netflix, have taken action, increasing the prices of their subscriptions. The most striking of all has been the case of Netflix, with a constant and uninterrupted rise in its prices since its arrival on the market.
In recent months, price increases and removals of low-priced subscription tiers are making it more difficult for users to afford streaming services or look for cheaper alternatives or some cost-sharing tricks…
And you, have you been affected by the disappearance of this plan? Let us know in the comments.
