How to Set Up and Use Apple Music on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, PC

Apple Music is making massive year-over-year improvements. From supporting lossless music to Apple Sing; from offering 24/7 radio station to Apple Music Classical, it has a lot to offer. It’s natural that you want to pick Apple Music over other streaming services or at least try what it has to offer.

Follow along to know all there is, from Apple Music price/plan/subscription to how to set up and use Apple Music. And whether you’re an iPhone user or a Windows PC enthusiast, we’ll help you explore and enjoy Apple Music to its fullest potential.

How Much Does Apple Music Cost

Apple Music offers several subscription plans tailored to different user needs. Here’s an overview of the plans and their monthly subscription price:

Features	Voice	Student/Individual	Family
Cost	$4.99/mo.	$5.99/mo/ $10.99/mo.	$16.99/mo.
Trail Period	3 months free	3 months free	3 months free
Availability – Apple Devices – Other supportive devices	Yes No	Yes Yes	Yes Yes
Offline support	No	Yes	Yes
Siri support	Yes	Yes	Yes
Family Sharing	No	No	Up to 6 people
Apple Music Classical app	No	Yes	Yes
Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos	No	Yes	Yes
Lossless audio	No	Yes	Yes
Apple Music Sing	No	Yes	Yes

Additionally, you can avail

• 6 months of Apple Music for free with eligible devices (AirPods Pro, AirPods 2nd and 3rd Gen., AirPods Max, HomePod, HomePod Mini, and some Beats devices.)

• Apple Music in Apple One bundle,
  • Individual – $16.95/mo.
  • Family – $22.95/mo.
  • Premier $32.95/mo.

• Apple TV+ subscription for free with Apple Music Student Plan.

Apple Music Plans and Subscription

• Voice Plan aka Apple Music Siri only plan is a cheaper and limited version that can only be accessed and controlled with your voice. Although you can access the entire Apple Music catalog, you’ll need Siri’s help to explore, play and manage it.

• Individual or Student plan, as the name suggests the plan allows a single user access to the entire Apple Music catalog. It can be accessed through Siri, mobile or desktop apps, web, and other supported devices.

• Family plan allows up to 6 users to share Apple Music subscriptions and purchases via Family Sharing. Alongside all other features, the plan offers an individual music library and personalized recommendations for each member.

How to Subscribe to Apple Music

Note: New subscribers can start a trial and cancel at any time. If you end your Apple Music subscription, you can no longer stream Apple Music songs or play Apple Music songs you downloaded.

How to Sign Up For Apple Music on iPhone and iPad

If you’re a first-time subscriber, open the Music app → tap ‘Get 3 months free’ or Redeem Now from the banner or ad. Next, authenticate to start the trial.

To subscribe later or to view various subscription plans, go to Settings → Music → select Join Apple Music/ Subscribe Apple Music → tap See More Plans → select a subscription plan → tap Start Trial/ Subscribe.

How to Login to Apple Music on Mac

Similar to the subscription process on iPhone, all you need to do is open the Music app on Mac → tap Redeem Now from the ad.

Next, tap Redeem Now again → authenticate to subscribe to Apple Music.

To set up the account, tap the profile icon → tap Get Started.

How to Get Apple Music via Web

Launch the browser of your choice, and go to the Apple Music website. Next, click the ad banner for subscription or Sign in from the top-right corner. Here, sign in with your Apple ID (or create one) and follow the instructions.

Note: You can also activate Apple Music from Windows or Android devices, simply download the Apple Music app and follow the onscreen instructions to get started.

Connect Apple Music With Your HomePod, Google, or Amazon Alexa Devices

While it is easier to AirPlay or Handoff music from Apple devices to HomePod, Apple Music readily supports all smart speakers as well. Although, there’s just an extra step when you want to connect Apple Music to Google Home or Amazon Alexa devices.

You’ll have to download the relative app on your iPhone or Android device and connect your Apple Music account with the speaker. Once that is done, you can command them to play your favorite tunes from Apple Music without a hiccup.

How to Set up Apple Music Family Plan

To enable and make use of a Family plan for Apple Music, you’ll need an active Family Sharing account set up. Now, when you’re enabling the trial, select the Family plan from the options.

However, if you have an active plan and want to switch to Family Plan, go to the Music app → profile icon → Manage Subscription.

Here, Select See All Plans → Family Plan and authenticate the payment.

How to Invite Members to Your Family Plan

Go to Settings → tap your name from the top → Family Sharing → Continue → Invite the contact you want to add → Done.

Once the person accepts your invitation, they’ll be able to access Apple Music.

How to Use Apple Music on Any Device

Once you’ve logged in to your Apple Music account, using it is a piece of cake. Whether you’re listening on iPhone, iPad, Android device, Mac, PC, Web, or Apple TV, you’ll be privy to similar tabs.

• Listen Now
• Browse
• Radio
• Library
• Search

To set up Apple Music and make the most of its recommendation algorithm, you can either,

• Go to the Browse page → select a preferred category (for instance Global 100) → play it.

• Go to the Search page → browse existing categories or search for your favorite artist, songs, or genres → play the songs.

Apple Music records your choices, listening preferences, and searches to tailor the music recommendations. Moreover, you can show the playlist/song to help Apple make better recommendations.

However, loving a song or playlist doesn’t save the song in any list, for that you’ll have to add the playlist/song to your Library

How to Add a Playlist or Song to Your Library

To Add a playlist to the Apple Music library,

Open the playlist and do one of the following,

• Tap + from the top-right corner, or
• Tap the three-dot icon → select either Add to Library or ‘Add to a Playlist’. You can also tap Love to guide the Apple Music algorithm.

Add a song to the Apple Music library or a playlist

Search and open the song you like, here, tap the three-dot icon from the top-right corner, and select either Add to Library or ‘Add to a Playlist’.

What’s more, you can either tap Love or suggest Less and show the algorithm your likes and dislikes.

Once you have added songs or playlists to your library, you can tap the Library tab and view them all. You can also download the songs for offline listening to save data and avoid buffering in the bad network.

If you have been using any other music streaming services, like Spotify or YouTube Music, you can also import these playlists into Apple Music. So, you’ll not be starting from scratch. Additionally, you can also create Smart Playlists on Apple Music that automatically organizes music in your library as per specified criteria.

Share Apple Music Playlists With Your Friends

While not as simple and collaborative as Spotify Playlists, Apple Music allows you to share playlists and songs. You can either directly share a playlist, a song, or even its lyrics with anyone using Apple Music.

Although you can share the playlist or song link with someone outside Apple Music, they won’t be able to listen to it unless they subscribe to Apple Music.

Find What Your Friends Are Listening to on Apple Music

In addition to sharing music across Apple Music, you can also share what you’re currently listening to from your Apple Music profile. Furthermore, you can also follow your friends, family, or colleagues to see what they are listening to.

To do so, open the Apple Music app → select the profile icon → View the Profile.

Here,

Tap Edit → select who can follow/view your activity and toggle on the switch next to ‘Listening To’

Tap Follow More Friends → select Follow or Invite to start following the Apple Music user → tap Done.

Change Apple Music Settings

Apple offers a variety of setting to personalize your Apple Music experience, you can explore them from Settings → Music.

Here you can, enable/disable Dolby Atmos, Sound Check, Animated Art, Automatic Downloads, Use Listening History, etc. Furthermore, you can manage the Audio Quality, Download settings, and EQ to your liking.

How to Cancel or Change Apple Music Subscription

You can cancel your Apple Music subscription or change the subscription plan at any time. To do so, open the Apple Music app on your mobile or computer or on the web, tap/click the profile picture from the top-right corner.

Select Manage Subscriptions (if you can’t find the setting), scroll down to select Account Settings → Subscriptions → Apple Music.

Here, select See All Plans to change your Apple Music subscription → select a different plan. Or select Cancel Subscriptions (Free Trail) to cancel an ongoing Apple Music trial or subscription plan → Cancel.

Note:

• When you cancel an ongoing subscription, you won’t be able to access the music added to your library, your playlists, or the downloaded music. It can be retrieved once you resubscribe to Apple Music.

• You can’t switch plans during the trial period. If you do so, the trial period is terminated, and the subscription plan will be applied.

How to Resubscribe to Apple Music

You can either use the Apple Music app, iPhone/iPad Settings, or Apple Music websites to rejoin Apple Music. The steps are similar to the first time around, go to Apple Music → Sign in with your Apple ID and follow the onscreen instructions to resubscription.

You can also, go to the Setting app on iPhone/iPad → tap your Profile → select Subscriptions → select Apple Music and follow the onscreen instructions.

FAQs About Using Apple Music

Make the Most of Your Apple Music Subscription

What marks Apple Music as a great music streaming service is not just its features, but also its amazing music discovery algorithm. Since music is very personal, discovering the songs that we’ll love is a special experience.

Go ahead and give Apple Music a try and discover some hidden gems. If you already have, let us know your first impression of Apple Music. Share with us in the comments section below.