Is Apple Music Unlimited? Here’s How it Works

Apple Music is a household name due to its dominance in the world of music streaming services. However, there is still some confusion surrounding certain aspects of what the platform provides and how it all works.

One major question that potential customers, or new users, have is whether Apple Music is unlimited.

In this article, we take a look at how ‘unlimited’ Apple Music actually is and what that means for its users.

Here’s Whether Apple Music Is Really Unlimited:

Apple Music offers unlimited access to stream music from its enormous library of songs. Unlimited access is only available for users on a free trial or paying subscribers. Users can also download songs for offline listening onto multiple devices. However, there is a limit of up to 100,000 songs.

Can you Download as Much Content as you Want on Apple Music?

Listening to music offline is a key component that underpins any modern music streaming platform. Users need to have the freedom to take their music anywhere they go – with or without access to the internet.

Apple Music understands the importance of downloading its content to a user’s device and, as such, Apple Music users can download a huge amount of content and even sync this content across multiple devices.

• Apple Music users can download a maximum of 100,000 songs.
• Any tracks you add to your personal library can be downloaded onto your device.
• Users can access their songs from another device signed into the same Apple ID using the ‘Sync Library’ feature.

The amount you can download with Apple Music may not be unlimited, but it is nothing to be sniffed at.

In comparison, Spotify, one of Apple’s leading competitors, only allows its users to download up to 10,000 tracks.

If you’re an Apple Music user and want to start downloading songs onto your device, simply follow the steps below:

1. First, add the content you wish to download into your library.
2. Launch the Apple Music app and locate the track, playlist, or album.
3. Press and hold on the content and then tap ‘Add to Library’
4. Now locate that content from within your library and press and hold on it.
5. Now tap ‘Download’

Do you have Unlimited Access During the Trial Period?

Free trials are incredibly useful for potential subscribers to gain access to a service or platform and check out whether it is right for them.

Music streaming services such as Apple Music understand that a monthly commitment is not necessarily an easy choice for its customers.

Nevertheless, Apple believes that the music streaming service that they offer is worth the price, but in order for them to attract customers and long-time subscribers, they need to entice users to give Apple Music a try.

The free trial that Apple Music provides allows users to take full advantage of everything that the streaming platform offers – this means unlimited access to all of Apple Music’s library and features.

• You can sign up for a 1 month-free trial with Apple Music.
• The free trial will give you unlimited access to over 100 million songs and 30,000 playlists.
• You can download songs for offline listening.
• Enjoy lossless audio formats and spatial audio surround sound (if your hardware permits it).
• Experience all of Apple Music’s live radio stations and curated playlists.
• Listen to the music you love across multiple devices (using the same Apple ID).
• The free trial will automatically convert to a paid membership once it is at an end, and you will continue to have unlimited access to Apple Music.

Is Every Song Free on Apple Music Once you Pay?

Becoming a paying subscriber to Apple Music is the only way to retain access to the music streaming service.

Apple Music does not offer a free subscription, and, therefore, unless you are currently on a free trial, you will need to be paying a monthly fee in order to enjoy Apple Music’s many features.

One of Apple Music’s most obvious features is the huge library of tracks that users have access to. Apple Music currently boasts over 100 million songs – a number that continues to grow each year.

A library of this magnitude naturally appeals to music lovers across the globe and is arguably a key factor that encourages customers to keep paying in order to discover more and more music.

The good news here is that if you pay for Apple Music, no matter what plan you choose from their subscription packages, you will be able to play anything and everything from their 100 million-strong library.

To put it another way, once you pay for an Apple Music subscription, every song is free.

Is Apple Music Unlimited on the Family Plan?

If you’ve been interested in signing up as a subscriber to Apple Music, then you may well have noticed that you have a few options when it comes to how you subscribe.

Apple Music has a range of subscription plans, including:

1. Voice
2. Individual
3. Student
4. Family

The Family plan that Apple Music offers costs $16.99 and, as Apple states, allows:

“(…) up to six people can enjoy unlimited access to Apple Music on their devices.”

[Source:Support.Apple.com]

This unlimited access is not the same as just being able to access your personal library from multiple devices via the ‘Sync Library’ feature found in the app.

Instead, the Family plan with Apple Music gives each member of the plan their own personal music library.

Additionally, the Family Plans allows unlimited access to all of Apple Music’s great features, including personal recommendations based on each of the 6 members’ individual listening habits.

Therefore, Apple Music’s Family plan provides the same unlimited listening experience and access that users on Individual or Student plans enjoy.

However, with the Family plan, all six memberships are paid in one monthly installment and at a discounted rate.

If you and your family love music and are all interested in signing up for a subscription to Apple Music, then it makes perfect sense to group these memberships into Family Plan.

Can you Pay Extra to Unlock More Content?

As previously mentioned, once you sign up and pay for Apple Music, you have unlimited access to Apple Music’s incredible library.

However, there is one Apple Music subscription plan that restricts certain features. But, this plan will cost you less than any of the other plans available.

• Apple Music Voice only costs $4.99 per month.
• Apple Music Voice, is, as the name suggests, a voice-command version of the service.
• Voice subscribers cannot build playlists or download music for offline playback.
• Moreover, lossless audio formats, spatial audio, and Apple Music Sing are not included.

Apple Music Voice users will find that their version of the Apple Music app has reduced functionality and also encourages them to upgrade to an Individual plan in order to experience the additional features that Apple Music has to offer.

The Individual plan with Apple Music costs $10.99 per month, which means that for an extra $6 a month, you can pay to access everything Apple Music can provide.

Paying extra to upgrade may be important for users who want to ensure they have more control over accessing the music they love in a way that suits them

As TechHive.com points out, for Apple Music Voice users:

“You can request a Bollywood or Brazilian playlist on Apple Music Voice, but you won’t get access to the deep catalogue suggestions that spring up while browsing Apple Music’s categories” 

Do you Have Unlimited Skips with Apple Music?

If you’ve ever signed up for Spotify’s free subscription, you’ll know all about the limitations that users have when it comes to skipping songs.

Apple Music, however, does not offer a free subscription to its service. Apple Music only allows users to access their service as paying subscribers.

This means that, unlike Spotify’s free subscription, there is no need to restrict the functionality of the app – in other words, you have unlimited skips, no ads, and on-demand streaming. 

Despite the many similarities between the two music streaming giants, Apple Music’s decision not to launch a free version of their service means that, with the exception of Apple Music Voice, all users have the same experience – without ads.

The reason that Spotify limits the number of songs a user can skip is to encourage them to upgrade to a monthly membership and become a paying subscriber to the service.

Sources

Add and Download Music from Apple Music

Apple Music Voice review: It’s not perfect but is it a good value?

Apple Music vs. Spotify Compared

Get an Apple Music family subscription