Is Apple Music For Students Worth It? (We Checked)

Did you know Apple Music offers a discounted plan for college students? You could qualify for this unique subscription option if you’re currently attending a college, junior college, or university.

So if you’re curious and think you might qualify, we will take an in-depth look at the Apple Music Student Plan:

Here’s How Worth the Money Apple Music Is for Students:

Apple Music offers four subscription options: Voice, Student, Individual, and Family. The Student and Family plans are identical to the Individual plan with certain exceptions. The Individual plan normally costs $9.99 per month, but the identical Student Plan costs $5.99 per month.

 

How Much Does Apple Music Cost With and Without Student Discount?

To understand the pricing at play with Apple’s various plans, we need to take a moment to cover the basics of the four subscription plans they offer.

In fact, there aren’t many opportunities to get Apple Music at a discounted price.

Here’s a quick rundown of the plans, their features, and pricing:

• Voice Plan: $4.99 monthly, unlimited music streaming, and all basic features available for apple devices only.
• Individual Plan: $9.99 monthly, everything in the Voice Plan plus additional device support, downloads, a lossless audio option, and other features.
• Student Plan: $5.99 per month, identical to the Individual Plan, but must submit proof of student status. Valid for four years, which then converts to Individual Plan.
• Family Plan: $14.99 per month, identical to the Individual Plan, but usable by up to six people.

The Voice Plan is more limited but cheaper, and the Individual Plan is full-priced and full-featured.

The Family plan and the Student Plan we’re focusing on today are variations on the Individual Plan: they offer all the same benefits but differ in who can access them and at what price.

So a good way to look at the Student Plan is that you’re getting the Individual Plan at a discount for being a student – $4.00 per month, specifically since the Individual Plan normally costs $9.99 per month, but students get it for $5.99.

How Much Do Other Music Streaming Services Cost for Students?

If we went through every music streaming alternative, this would be a very long article, so let’s look at two of Apple Music’s biggest competitors: Spotify and YouTube Music.

YouTube Music:

YouTube Music is relatively new to the scene, but then again, so is Apple Music. That hasn’t stopped either media giant from successfully adding music streaming to their list of services.

As for its student option, YouTube Music starts at a free tier (something Apple Music does not have), with a Premium Plan going for $9.99 per month but $4.99 for students.

In short, YouTube Music’s pricing is nearly identical to Apple Music’s in terms of its individual and student plans, the latter being $1 cheaper than Apple Music.

Spotify:

At first glance, Spotify seems to take a nearly identical approach to the student plan business as YouTube Music. Their Individual Plan is likewise $9.99 per month, and their Student Plan is $4.99 per month.

However, Spotify is unique in that students don’t just get everything from the Individual Plan at a cheaper rate. Spotify’s student plan bundles subscriptions to Hulu, Showtime, and Spotify, all for that low price of $4.99 per month.

With all this in mind, we can see that Apple Music is actually slightly more expensive for students than its two biggest competitors, being $5.99 compared to the other two’s $4.99.

Furthermore, Spotify seems to offer the best deal, bundling its music streaming service with two tv-streaming services for a single low price for students.

Can Students Listen to Apple Music Offline?

Yes, the only Apple Music plan that cannot download songs to listen to offline is the $4.99 Voice Plan, which is limited to streaming only.

The Individual Plan—and by extension, the Student and Family plans, which have the same features as Individual—can freely download songs to their library for offline listening.

This feature offers offline listening convenience, but only while you’re actively subscribed and paying Apple every month. What’s more, you can even download songs in lossless formats for the highest-quality listening experience possible.

These lossless files are too big for normal streaming on most devices unless you have a fast internet connection and a beefy computer, but downloading is another story.

So, in short, not only can you download songs to listen to offline on the Student Plan, but you can do so in the highest quality format possible.

Do Universities or Schools Give Out Apple Music Subscriptions?

No, at least as far as we’re aware, they do not.

Instead, it works that you must submit proof of your attendance at an accredited College or University to Apple Customer Support to qualify for the plan.

To sign up for an Apple Music Student Plan, you can follow this step-by-step guide to confirm your eligibility and get the discounted rate:

1. Open the Apple Music (on Apple Devices) or iTunes (on some third-party devices that still have it) app.
2. Navigate to the “Listen Now” or “For You” options.
3. Tap or click on the trial offer.
4. Choose the “student” option, then continue to “Verify Eligibility.”

You’ll then be taken to a website called UNiDAYS. From there, follow the on-screen prompt instructions to verify your enrollment at an accredited institution. Once you are proven to be a student, UNiDAYS will send you back to the app.

Now, sign in with your Apple ID, or follow the prompts to create one if you don’t have one yet. Confirm your Billing information and then tap or click “Join.”

Note that you’ll start with a free one-month trial, and if you don’t cancel by the time that month is up, you’ll be billed at the Student Plan rate of $5.99 per month.

Further, the above instructions only work if you don’t already have an Apple Music subscription. The instructions are slightly different if you’re already subscribed to Apple Music and want a student discount.

Here’s another quick guide for this circumstance:

On Apple Mobile:

• Open the Settings app.
• Tap your name, then “Subscriptions.”
• Tap your currently active Apple Music subscription.
• Look for the Student option and follow the prompts from there.

On Mac:

• Open the App Store.
• Click on your name at the bottom of the sidebar.
• Click “Account Settings” and sign in if prompted.
• Scroll to Subscriptions and click “Manage.”
• Click “Edit” next to your Apple Music subscription.
• Look for the Student option and follow the prompts from there.

On Windows:

• Open iTunes.
• Click on “Users and Accounts,” then your account.
• Click on “Subscriptions.”
• Click on your Apple Music subscription.
• Look for the Student option and follow the prompts from there.

Finally, it’s important to note that your shiny new Student plan has some caveats.

Get used to that UNiDAYS site because you’ll be using it every year you’re in school to verify you’re still a student. If you fail to do this, your plan could revert to Individual standard pricing of $9.99 per month.

If you still take college classes after the typical four years, your plan will revert anyway, as Apple Music offers this deal for a maximum of 4 years.

Sources:

Apple Music Subscription Options

Get an Apple Music Student Subscription