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Subscribers to Apple Music's $4.99 Monthly Student Plan to Get Apple TV+ 'for Free'

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Subscribers to Apple Music's $4.99 student plan will get access to Apple TV+ at no additional charge when the streaming video service launches on November 1.

apple-tv-plus-and-apple-music.jpg

First spotted by 9to5Mac, the bundle deal was revealed in an Instagram Story by "Dickinson" star Hailee Steinfeld and later shared on the official Apple TV Instagram account.

Steinfeld's announcement is short on detail and simply reveals that Apple Music student subscribers will be able to access Apple TV+ "for free" when the service launches this Friday, so we don't yet know if this is a time-limited offer or a permanent deal. We also don't know if it will include the Family Sharing feature that comes with all standard Apple TV+ subscriptions and allows six members of a family to access TV+ content from the one subscription.

If it is a permanent deal, then it sounds very competitive - Apple TV+ costs $4.99 per month alone, so offering students access to the Apple Music catalog as well as all Apple TV+ originals for a combined $5 monthly fee would be a big draw.

Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that Apple was in discussions with record labels about bundling Apple Music and Apple TV+ as part of a "super-bundle of media content" for one flat monthly rate.

Again, it's not clear if this student-only offer is the first official "super-bundle" of its kind, but we'll update this article as soon as we learn more.

To clarify, Apple Music costs $9.99 per month for individuals in the United States, with a $4.99 tier for students and a family plan for $15 per month. Apple TV+ will cost $4.99 per month and this tier also supports Family Sharing, so up to six members of a family can access content using the one subscription.

In addition, Apple is offering a free one-year subscription to customers who purchase any iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, or Mac as of September 10 and later.

Article Link: Subscribers to Apple Music's $4.99 Monthly Student Plan to Get Apple TV+ 'for Free'
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/30/apple-musics-apple-tv-plus-5-a-month-bundle/
It’s an odd move that kind of devalues atv. Free with iPhone and other hardware is one thing but free for 4.99 a month music subs is basically just giving it away.

More and more atv simply looks like a play to get people to use the app and buy channels.
 
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cardfan said:
It’s an odd move that kind of devalues atv. Free with iPhone and other hardware is one thing but free for 4.99 a month music subs is basically just giving it away.

More and more atv simply looks like a play to get people to use the app and buy channels.
Click to expand...
I think Apple is going for the long play. ATV+ needs subscribers to be successful long term more than Apple needs the revenue short term. They understand they're short on content right now. Essentially giving it away while there's really not much content ensures there are at least eyes to view what's there.

People may have been reluctant to pay money for a service that doesn't have a full catalog. Just give it to them and build the catalog. Apple is in a position to do that because they don't need the service to be profitable up front.
 
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cardfan said:
It’s an odd move that kind of devalues atv. Free with iPhone and other hardware is one thing but free for 4.99 a month music subs is basically just giving it away.

More and more atv simply looks like a play to get people to use the app and buy channels.
Click to expand...
It really shows how much (little) Apple really thinks this is a game changer.
If the only way to get you using it is by giving it for free, it means that they do not expect many subscribers in the first place.

But It will be nice for once to have something "free" from Apple
 
This is good news, however as I am not a student anymore, I’m glad I still get the 12 months of Apple TV+ for free as I purchased the 11 Pro.
 
cardfan said:
It’s an odd move that kind of devalues atv. Free with iPhone and other hardware is one thing but free for 4.99 a month music subs is basically just giving it away.

More and more atv simply looks like a play to get people to use the app and buy channels.
Click to expand...

ATV+ currently has little to no value. They need to build up both a userbase and a content library that will retain users for it to have any value. Targeting student those who are less likely to have or allocate the cash for a subscription but could in the future is a good idea.
 
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kurosov said:
ATV+ currently has little to no value. They need to build up both a userbase and a content library that will retain users for it to have any value. Targeting student those who are less likely to have or allocate the cash for a subscription but could in the future is a good idea.
Click to expand...

If that’s the case they may as well make it free with any Apple sub. News. Music. Arcade.

And hope that some of those buy channels or want to pay to see season two of morning show.
 
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PickUrPoison said:
Here come the bundles...

PS I wonder how long it’ll be before Spotify’s CEO starts whining about anti-competitive behavior?
Click to expand...

Spotify now serves podcasts in addition to streaming music. They might want to re-examine their own house first before throwing rocks.

I personally feel that if Apple wants to be really aggressive, make TV+ free with any Apple Music sub.
 
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cardfan said:
It’s an odd move that kind of devalues atv. Free with iPhone and other hardware is one thing but free for 4.99 a month music subs is basically just giving it away.

More and more atv simply looks like a play to get people to use the app and buy channels.
Click to expand...

the end game for Apple as u suggested would be ok with me..if it seemed like companies actually are interested in adding channels. Currently it makes more sense for me to stay with fuboTV. The people in charge of making these deals are stubborn and continue to think and force customers to add another app filled with stuff we won’t watch.
 
cardfan said:
It’s an odd move that kind of devalues atv. Free with iPhone and other hardware is one thing but free for 4.99 a month music subs is basically just giving it away.

More and more atv simply looks like a play to get people to use the app and buy channels.
Click to expand...

Free to students, not the general subscribers. Smart move because students have less disposable so would struggle with so many subscriptions. This has the potential to bring in people who would not have otherwise have been customers.

AppleTV also has an uphill battle against existing sites. Saying this devalues AppleTV because it's free or cheap is like saying Amazon devalues its services when it takes a loss on certain services. In reality, it's to build up the userbase, which then later translates into income.
 
Akrapovic said:
Free to students, not the general subscribers. Smart move because students have less disposable so would struggle with so many subscriptions. This has the potential to bring in people who would not have otherwise have been customers.

AppleTV also has an uphill battle against existing sites. Saying this devalues AppleTV because it's free or cheap is like saying Amazon devalues its services when it takes a loss on certain services. In reality, it's to build up the userbase, which then later translates into income.
Click to expand...

There’s no uphill battle because Apple wants to sell the so called competition. Netflix is the only one not playing apples game. But really there’s no battle at all. It’s probably not fair comparing a free lure with other services that are full blown.

Apple makes 4.50 for selling a 15 dollar hbo sub. Would you rather sell atv subs or hbo? How about both? Are you really going to try to compete with hbo then? That’s your friend.
 
Building the subs and user base is key for Apple right now. I think we will see a lot more of this bundling of services over time for all, not just students - ATV+ with Music, ATV+ with Arcade and Music with Arcade.

I am a Netflix subscriber - all I get is video from Netflix, so it is a conscious decision to buy that service. I have Amazon Prime as I want it for the next day delivery of physical products, the Music and Video services are a bonus in that respect, I use them but I wouldn't buy them on their own as individual subs. Similar approach for me with Apple, I want Apple Music as I can use that service in my car and at work - include Arcade and ATV+ and I'll try that content.
 
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cardfan said:
It’s an odd move that kind of devalues atv. Free with iPhone and other hardware is one thing but free for 4.99 a month music subs is basically just giving it away.
Click to expand...

Apple is trying to generate hype by giving the service away to 18-22 year olds, and if they find something they like on Apple TV+, Apple hopes they use social media to tell everyone (thereby giving free advertisements for Apple).

Once there is hype, and there are a few shows people say are 'must sees', then the subscriptions will follow.
 
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I still don’t get this. It is $5 a month for a few original tv shows, and movies. That’s it. I was thinking it was going to be a full fledged streaming service like HULU or Netflix.
 
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They should have just given the 1 year or at least 6 months of ATV+ for the existing Apple users as well.
 
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