Apple Music quietly closes first trial period
Also how to stop auto-renewal if you are accidentally still subscribed
Apple Music has passed its first test. We just don't know the results.
For those who tried the service when it first became available in June, the free trial period ended this week. Users had to decide: Was it worth paying for?
Since its launch on June 30, many have wondered about how the music service would fare in the face of stiff music free and paid streaming competition from Pandora, YouTube, Amazon and of course, Spotify.
In traditional Apple fashion, the company has been coy on stats and barely gave the service any attention during its big iPhone event last month. While it's expected that the company will have more to say during its earnings call on October 27th, a recent report by the New York Post says the service has attracted around 15 million subscribers during the last three months of the trial. That number is expected to go up as people purchase the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus. All iPhones come with the Music app pre-installed.
Apple will continue to offer 3-month trials to new subscribers looking to try out the service.
BILL TIME
For the original wave of trial users, customers who did not opt out began to receive their first bills for the service on Wednesday. Apple Music costs $9.99 a month for a single user or $14.99 per month for a family plan of up to six people.
Similar to Spotify, Apple Music lets users on the iPhone, iPad, Mac or PC stream or download full albums and tracks, make playlists and listen to Apple Music radio stations with unlimited skipping.
Other Apple Music radio stations, as well as Beats 1, are available all users for free with an Apple ID but you are limited in the amount of skips you can make. Apple is also expected to release an Apple Music app for Android phones, though it has been radio silent on when that app will be available.
HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE
For those who tried Apple Music during the launch but no longer use it and forgot to unsubscribe, it is pretty easy to turn off the auto-renew function and prevent the service from charging you in the future.
On an iOS device, open the Apple Music app and click on the icon in the upper left (it looks like a pink head). This takes you to your account settings, which includes the option to "View Apple ID," which takes you to that settings page.
If you have trouble finding it, you can also access this at the bottom of the home pages for the App Store and iTunes on your phone.
Once at the account settings, scroll down until you see a section for "Subscriptions" and press Manage in blue. This will take you to a new screen for Apple Music Membership where you switch off the toggle on for Automatic Renewal. After that you're done.
You can also unsubscribe using iTunes from a PC or Mac by clicking on the head icon in the top right next to the search bar, selecting the account info option from the dropdown menu and logging in to your account.
Once the new page opens, scroll to the settings section on the bottom, click on manage next to subscriptions and you'll be taken to page that shows your Apple Music membership.
If you decide you want to give Apple Music another shot you can follow the same steps to sign up for a new subscription.
If you meant to cancel but forgot to turn off auto-renew your best bet is to contact Apple support and explain the error to them. Unlike more traditional receipts, the iTunes receipt for Apple Music does not include a phone number that people can call for billing issues.
And forget asking Siri. She's happy to open Apple Music. But she plays dumb when you talk of leaving it.
Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal