Apple Increases Apple Music Subscription Price for Students in Several Countries

[sofila]

Hear hear!

I've never stopped building out my personal music library that started all the way back in the late 90's. Over the years I've upgraded file quality also.

My music collection is an immensely valuable personal asset, that is almost like a diary over time of where I was, what I was doing and what I was into, etc.

I use some streaming for enjoyment/discovery, but I always end up buying my own copies to add to my library if songs meet a certain "bar".

Not all music is just ephemeral background noise to me.

Streaming could never be my "only" music source

I thank you very warmly for expressing a thought that I agree with 99%. The 1% missing just because my music collection started with vinyls and a few years before yours.
However I appreciate streaming as an interesting option, another thing that my daughters have more than me in my youth, and which I probably would have abused in some way.
Unfortunately a good 20% of my music collection is not available in streaming and, although many think otherwise, I am convinced that lossless files make a difference.

Ancient Apple (endorsement): "Rip, Mix, Burn."

If you RIP a music collection, you'll have the same quality of that RIP for up to forever and it will never cost you a nickel more.​

If you choose to keep renting (anything in the "cloud"), you are at the mercy of your asset landlords demanding a little more from time to time for whatever reason they choose to spin... curiously then reporting "record profits" thereafter so apparently <excuse> fully passes through to you (and then some) so they can somehow make extra to achieve those records.

The problem with this discussion and many others in the forum is that some people do not conceive of "option" as positive and insist on convincing the whole world that their approach is the only reasonable one.

This strategy also means you'll basically never have current music.

This may not be that bad

If one really wants heavy new music discovery, stream free Pandora with a custom channel catering to specific tastes. I actually do this for new music discovery often. When I hear a single I love, I add it to an iTunes wish list, explore more from the same artist (if they are new to me) in iTunes and then buy it (or their album) if I want it in my collection.

Again "option", a term that is very indigestible to many users

edited for typo

 

[nebojsak]

Unfortunately a good 20% of my music collection is not available in streaming and, although many think otherwise, I am convinced that lossless files make a difference.

Same applies for me.

Spotify is closest to my needs but not enough. Tried some, and it's repetitive and boring and lacks much of the music I like. I have large collection of ripped 60s/70s/80s music, and using Bandcamp and some Youtube and Soundcloud to search for newer punk/post punk/krautrock/kosmische/noise/experimental electronica stuff. I'm not really interested in today's mainstream music.

Still sometimes I fire up random Spotify list when working, hear the same songs and give it up.

 

[sofila]

Same applies for me.

Spotify is closest to my needs but not enough. Tried some, and it's repetitive and boring and lacks much of the music I like. I have large collection of ripped 60s/70s/80s music, and using Bandcamp and some Youtube and Soundcloud to search for newer punk/post punk/krautrock/kosmische/noise/experimental electronica stuff. I'm not really interested in today's mainstream music.

Still sometimes I fire up random Spotify list when working, hear the same songs and give it up.

So true. The only problem is that when we discover a new band that we like it is as exciting now as it was 20 years ago ... so we are doomed to continue researching.

 

[nebojsak]

Well, I'm ok with finding 1-2-3 interesting new bands per year. You have to dig really deep in today's music production.

Bandcamp has a cool feature of sending you mail with new music periodically, based on what you buy/follow/listen to.

edit: oh yeah, and I like Bandcamp for being financially fair to musicians. It's not brutal ripoff like streaming services.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I forgot another reason I often get irritated with streaming..

The original dates of music can be wrong or the songs in particular are getting pulled from later compilations or re-rerelases with new recordings.

Nothing bums me out quite as much as a great 70's/80's song that has been recorded all over again and thrown into a "greatest hits volume 9" type of thing.

Remastering is usually ok, but when it's an all new recording or just a version whose metadata is a mess from being lumped with other cross releases and stuff.. ugh..

I keep my personal library very specifically with original source or release dates, as I personally encountered the music. It's all part of the diary/journal nature of my library.

Also, to echo @sofila above about some stuff not being there.

As I've upgraded file quality over the years from my earlier digital stuff, it's been incredible to see how many small bands were only small hits and disappeared and you flat out can not get the content anymore (and certainly not on streaming). Some stuff from only the 2000's is like that!

In a streaming only world, a lot of great stuff is getting lost through the cracks.

 

[sofila]

I forgot another reason I often get irritated with streaming..

The original dates of music can be wrong or the songs in particular are getting pulled from later compilations or re-rerelases with new recordings.

Nothing bums me out quite as much as a great 70's/80's song that has been recorded all over again and thrown into a "greatest hits volume 9" type of thing.

Remastering is usually ok, but when it's an all new recording or just a version whose metadata is a mess from being lumped with other cross releases and stuff.. ugh..

I keep my personal library very specifically with original source or release dates, as I personally encountered the music. It's all part of the diary/journal nature of my library.

Also, to echo @sofila above about some stuff not being there.

As I've upgraded file quality over the years from my earlier digital stuff, it's been incredible to see how many small bands were only small hits and disappeared and you flat out can not get the content anymore (and certainly not on streaming). Some stuff from only the 2000's is like that!

In a streaming only world, a lot of great stuff is getting lost through the cracks.

More and more superficial and for fast consumption. While it would be the perfect place to keep things tidy

 

[I7guy]

This. The Apple defenders in here are absurd or out of touch with reality.

I do not believe defending or criticizing a $.50 increase is out of touch with reality. Using a percent to justify the criticism to me is out of touch with reality.

 

[nebojsak]

How's inflation measured in US? In absolute numbers or percents?

 

[Bawstun]

I do not believe defending or criticizing a $.50 increase is out of touch with reality. Using a percent to justify the criticism to me is out of touch with reality.

Do the math on 50 cents times their dozens of millions of subscribers. The percentage of increase is absolutely relevant and to suggest otherwise is being intellectually dishonest.

 

[PC_tech]

being intellectually dishonest.

Seems to be often a thing with certain people…

 

[I7guy]

Do the math on 50 cents times their dozens of millions of subscribers. The percentage of increase is absolutely relevant and to suggest otherwise is being intellectually dishonest.

The aggregate of the total increase in revenue is moving the goal posts. The intellectual dishonesty is where 33% is used to criticize the increase, when in reality is $.50. How many people look at a price increase and then compute the companies increase in revenue? One?

 

[turbineseaplane]

Seems to be often a thing with certain people…

Too often the same people

 

[PC_tech]

Too often the same people

100 percent

 

[I WAS the one]

You’re just basing your decision on price only, not necessarily the content. Like, if you said, ‘I really like Apple Music, because it’s easy to navigate and parse through various genres of music, access my favorites, etc’. But you’re only touching on the price, which if that’s the case, you’re flip-flopping because you’re not preferable to Apple Music, you only care about the price. You seem like the type of customer that would even leave Spotify in the future if you don’t like their pricing structure, so it’s not really a loss to Apple if that’s the type of customer that you are, which also tells me that you don’t have a significant library of music either with Apple.

I’d also be curious if you actually even conducted a breakdown of the cost between Spotify and Apple Music.

Listen, my friend (or should I say read?) I started using iTunes since its debut. In 2022, I have 12 thousands tracks BOUGHT using the iTunes service (music that I paid and download and still have in my external drive) and 17 thousands mp3s I uploaded when Apple promise they will enhance and fix all the audio you submitted (and re-download them again to save them at better quality) Music I burn from my original CDs back in the day when Archos was the portable media king, I spend weeks burning all my CDs. Do the math. Most of them in my iTunes library were paid $9.99 (albums) and others even at $1.99 each! Don't you dare to point fingers at me saying you know what type of customer I am! I'm the one that like to own what he pays for. Asking me for a monthly payment for the privilege of listening is a choice, and I pay for that privilege whatever the heck I want. You in the other hand seems the kind of costumer that pays monthly for software, music, movies and book thinking you own them when you go to sleep. I got news for you, you have nothing.

 

[a_a0001]

In Vietnam, the price also increased from 29,000 VND ($1.25) to 35,000 VND ($1.51), but I did not receive any email notification about this from Apple.

You’ll get one soon, usually a month before your next billing date
I didn’t get one either until very recently, I noticed it first when looking at my subscriptions page and it was more expensive than I remembered it being

 

[8487697]

Unfortunately I didn't get any notification about a price increase. Today is my billing day I was just charged 5.99$. Not a "big deal" of course, but just would be nice to have some action that just makes me conscious about new pricing.

Like in grocery store - you see new price on price-tag before getting the same product you had yesterday, not at the end of the month or with some newsletter.

Getting increased prices is always a pain, but getting without a notification - more pain.

Also it makes me consider switching to my own library, since I wanted to do it anyway. Because 70% of music I listen is from soundcloud/bandcamp/soundtracks/anime which are not present on Apple Music.

 

[sdz]

Unfortunately I didn't get any notification about a price increase. Today is my billing day I was just charged 5.99$. Not a "big deal" of course, but just would be nice to have some action that just makes me conscious about new pricing.

Like in grocery store - you see new price on price-tag before getting the same product you had yesterday, not at the end of the month or with some newsletter.

Getting increased prices is always a pain, but getting without a notification - more pain.

Also it makes me consider switching to my own library, since I wanted to do it anyway. Because 70% of music I listen is from soundcloud/bandcamp/soundtracks/anime which are not present on Apple Music.

Open a brazil / Indian spotify account and enjoy a superior streaming service for a fraction of the cost 😍

 

[4356870]

2nd wave?

€4,99 > €5,99

 

[sdz]

2nd wave?

€4,99 > €5,99

switch to spotify India or Brazil.
😜

 

[4356870]

switch to spotify India or Brazil.
😜

hast du schon gewechselt?

 

[sdz]

hast du schon gewechselt?

Ich bin schon lange bei spotify brazil. Sind aber auch teurer geworden merke ich gerade.

Pro Jahr muss man derzeit ca 35€ berappen. Liegt wohl am schwachen Euro gerade auch.

 

[DuongHuuPhuc]

I just received an email from Apple that related to the Apple Music subscription price. If you were prematurely charged before receiving a notification of price change from Apple, they would refund to your Apple ID Balance.

[...] Due to a technical issue, it appears that your subscription price may have been changed prematurely. To remedy this, we have issued a credit in the amount of 12.000đ for the increased price in your last payment as well as in your next payment. [...]

 

[compwiz1202]

There are lots of broke people who are not students, yet they have to pay $9.99. Never understood the logic of "student discounts". Students aren't the only ones on fixed incomes (all the while paying tens of thousands to go to school each semester).

And are students carrying a $1000+ phone actually "broke"?

I've said this forever. Heck a student could be riding their parents' wealth.

 

[I WAS the one]

I realized the system just want to divide us by income, no matter how hard we try. One guy invent a machine that runs on water and when everyone is happy for the benefit of that invention, the system increase the prices of water so the only ones that can use that invention are the ones that can afford it. Poor will be poor. That's the rule. I have a neighbor asking me why if he put big money on solar system and run the whole house on solar power, he still makes a payment to the electricity company? He tried to disconnect the power meter and equipment from his house and the police show up saying it was illegal. So there you go, If you want to live here you need to pay, no matter if you are using other ways to sustain your needs. People said Apple just want to get you hooked with the ecosystem and I laugh seeing them buying a Fire TV Stick to save on cable.