Want to Get a Sneaky Good Deal on Apple Music? Here’s How

Apple Music doesn’t offer a free listening tier — you have to be a paying subscriber. But there are ways to beat the system.

By Tucker Bowe

Published February 14, 2023

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Apple Music is one of the most popular music streaming services on the planet, but it’s also unique because there’s no free subscription tier or option — you have to be a paying subscriber to listen to music. There are ways around this, of course, in the form of free trials and other promotions when you buy certain Apple devices. If you’re savvy, you can get six months (or more) of Apple Music for free. And in some cases, you don’t necessarily have to be a new subscriber.

Here’s what you need to know.

The Apple Music advantage

There are a number of reasons why you’d maybe want to choose Apple Music over other music subscription services. A simple subscription — whether it’s an individual, family or student plan — gets you access to over 90 million tracks that are really high quality; you can listen to lossless or CD quality (16-bit/44.1kHz) tracks, as well as even higher-resolution (up to 24-bit/192kHz) tracks.

If you have other Apple devices, specifically any of Apple’s AirPods or HomePods, Apple Music has a few other advantages. Apple Music supports spatial audio, which is Apple’s own immersive sound technology, and many of its own devices support it as well. And if you have HomePods, you really need to be an Apple Music subscriber; if you’re not, you won’t be able to use voice commands via Siri to request songs.

How to get a free trial of Apple Music

If you’re a new subscriber, Apple currently offers a one-month free trial of Apple Music. In years past, Apple had offered a three-month free trial, but as of early 2022 it downgraded the offer to just a single month.

Open the Apple Music app on your iPhone or iPhone.
Select the “Try it free” option in the top-right corner of your screen.

How to get a six-month free trial of Apple Music

Apple

You can get a free subscription to Apple Music for up to six months if you recently purchased (or started using) an eligible pair of Apple- or Beats-branded headphones, wireless earbuds or smart speaker. There are a few caveats, however. You need to be a new subscriber to Apple Music. And you need to have purchased the product through Apple, either through an Apple store or online.

The purchase of the following products get you six-months of Apple Music for free:

• Apple: AirPods (2nd-gen or third-gen), AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, HomePod and HomePod mini

• Beats: Beats Fit Pro, Beats Studio Buds, Powerbeats, Powerbeats Pro and Beats Solo Pro

The other thing to know is that Apple’s six-month free subscription to Apple Music has an expiration date. You need to sign up for the free subscription within 90 days of first pairing using the eligible device. If you wait too long, the deal expires.

To get the six-month free trial of Apple Music:

Open the Apple Music app on your iPhone or iPad.

Make sure you’re signed in with your Apple ID.

Go to the Listen Now tab select “Get 6 months free.”

If you don’t see a message for “Get 6 months free,” then unfortunately you’re not eligible because either you’ve waited too long or you’ve already signed up for Apple Music before.

How to get an extra three months free of Apple Music through Shazam

homepods on a desk — You basically need to be an Apple Music subscriber if you want to use Apple’s HomePod.

If you’re looking to tack on another three months of Apple Music for free, you do so through Shazam. Apple acquired the song-recognizing app back in late 2018, and has since integrated some of its technology into its iPhones and iPads; you can add a Shazam button to the Control Center, which you can then use just like Shazam to quickly recognize a song that’s playing. You don’t have to download the Shazam app to take advantage of this feature.

To encourage people to download the Shazam app, Apple is offering a further three months of Apple Music for free. (This offer tends to fluctuate between two and three months, so the offer is subject to change.)

Here’s what to do.