Apple Music is one of the best streaming services around, and now it looks set to 'borrow' a feature from its greatest rival, Spotify.
It's reportedly readying a free tier with limited features. That would allow more people to get a taste of what Apple Music can do, but without having to pay the usual £10.99 / $10.99 / AU$12.99 a month.
Free users would be able to skip only a limited number of tracks, according to code in the latest beta version of Apple Music on Android. This was revealed by a MacRumors analyst (via Android Police).
NEW: It appears that Apple may be working on a free or lower-cost tier of Apple Music.Strings in the latest Apple Music for Android beta mention "Can't skip any more tracks" and "Premium access required" pic.twitter.com/xGHeaDb7X3May 30, 2026
The code reveals the messages "Can't skip any more tracks," and "Premium access required." Which would certainly suggest a free tier is on the way.
Spotify's free tier includes adverts, which allows the service to still make money from it. Apple is more opposed to ads – the Apple TV streaming service doesn't include traditional adverts, only promos for its own content. So it would be interesting to see whether a free Apple Music tier opted not to include ads.
Spotify's free tier has long been limited in its abilities – like Apple's rumoured tier, you can only skip a certain number of tracks, for example. Though at the end of last year – at the same time as the Lossless tier finally launched – Spotify's free tier did gain some extra features. Like the ability to search for specific songs, play any song you happen to find during your scrolling, and the ability to compile your own playlist.
Lossless is, however, still reserved for paying customers.
Spotify's approach has been a huge success, helping it reach over 750 million users worldwide, around 460 million of which use the free, ad-supported tier.
If Apple can combine its better sound quality with a free tier that doesn't include adverts, it could eat away at Spotify's lead.
Apple's developers conference WWDC takes place next week, so we could see an announcement then.
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