How To Cancel your Apple Music Subscription

Apple Music was introduced in 2015 to compete with other streaming music subscription services. It offered a very generous three months free trial and then billed you per month to continue the service. If you haven’t settled on a service yet or wanted to try but not buy, here is now to cancel your Apple Music subscription.

Apple Music appeared in iOS 8.4 and made accessing the service as simple as opening the app. Kudos to Apple to bundling it in their ecosystem and making it as simple as possible to use. While it allows the company to market the service to every single iPhone user, it does make it as straightforward as it can be to use for those of us who want it.

Apple Music subscriptions cost $9.99 for an individual or $99 for a year. There is also a student option at $4.99 and a family subscription at $14.99. The annual subscription is new, having only been introduced in June 2017 and offers a saving over the monthly option.

However, if you already pay for the service and don’t want it, here’s how to cancel it.

Cancel your Apple Music subscription

The exact method to cancel your Apple Music subscription depends on what device you use.

In iOS:

Open iTunes on your device and log in using your Apple ID.
Select Subscriptions from the options and then Apple Music.
Select Cancel Subscription at the bottom of the page.
Confirm when prompted.

If using a Mac:

Open iTunes and log in using your Apple ID.
Select Store and Accounts on the right.
Select Manage next to Subscriptions down the page.
Select Edit next to Apple Music.
Select Cancel Subscription.
Confirm if prompted.

Either method will stop your subscription and take no more payments. You will be able to use the service until your current paid-for period is up and then you will need to subscribe once more to get access.

Apple Music

Apple Music is not one single service, it is a bunch of services that combine to make up what we know as Apple Music.

Those services include:

The Apple Music catalog.
iCloud Music Library that shares music between devices and combine all your music in one service.
Beats 1 radio.
Apple For You playlists. Human curated playlists that use your listening habits to suggest new music.
Apple New that combines Apple For You and new music, Apple staffer favorites and other music.
Apple Connect which allows artists to release value-add content to complement their music.

The core Apple Music catalog is huge and contains some of the world’s biggest artists, tracks and albums. There are also exclusives, extra content and radio. In all, there is more music available in this single service than you could listen to in a lifetime.

How does Apple Music compare to the competition?

There is a lot of competition in the streaming music space, Spotify, Google Play Music and Amazon Prime are just three examples. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and each has its own selling points, highlights and low points.

One strength of Apple Music is its integration into the Apple ecosystem. While annoying for those who don’t use it, the icon within iOS and integration with iTunes is superb. Then you have Siri and Apple Car Play. Siri enables voice search and voice control that works well with Apple Music. Want to listen to a particular track? Just ask Siri to play it.

Apple Car Play is still in its early stages but has been received well by owners of compatible cars. While not designed specifically for Apple Music, the ability to play your subscription in your car, on your phone, on a tablet and on your desktop is too good to ignore.

Beats 1 radio is a facet of Apple Music that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Local DJs anchor the show credibly well but it is the artists-themed days that make it shine. I was hooked the day they played Prince all day long after his passing. Other artist-themed days have happened and will happen too.

Apple’s For You service is another hidden gem. Playlists are nothing new but since iOS 10 was released, it really has gotten the love. The recommendations are better and the sheer variety and number of playlists available means you will never be short of something to listen to.

Of course, all this is a moot point if you came here looking to cancel your Apple Music subscription!