The free ride is almost over.
When Apple finally got in the streaming music business this summer, it lured users with a three-month trial: unlimited streaming, including exclusives like Taylor Swift and Dr. Dre’s catalogs, Apple paid the royalties(after some pressure from Swift).
Now the clock is ticking. For the earliest takers, the trial period ends next week. The 11 million people who signed up for Apple Music in the first month will have to choose: either pay $9.99 a month to keep the service or retreat to Apple’s free radio service, anchored by Beats One.
This will be the first real test of Apple’s service. We asked some of you on Twitter: will you stay and pay, or go?
Hi I'm looking for Apple Music users for a @Marketplace story — will you pay up after the trial period ends? Why or why not?
— Tony Wagner (@tonydwagner) September 22, 2015
A few of you said “yes,” unequivocally:
@tonydwagner @kairyssdal @Marketplace yes! all the music I want so close by, great playlists, and I'm already (happily) in apple ecosystem.
— Ian Kennedy (@iankennedy7) September 22, 2015
@tonydwagner @Marketplace Yes, Siri controlled music is great for road trips.
— Steve Merkel (@stevenjmerkel) September 22, 2015
@tonydwagner @Marketplace Yes. Curated playlists and Beats 1 better than I expected. Only downside so far is lack of gapless playback
— Scott H (@ScottInDaBronx) September 22, 2015
Plenty of people mentioned Spotify, Apple Music’s biggest competitor by far. For what it’s worth, Spotify says it’s doing fine, thank you very much, and sign-ups have risen since Apple entered the market.
@tonydwagner Hell yeah. It's easy, it's not Spotify and it means I only have one music app.
— $ Molly Marshall $ (@probablymolly) September 22, 2015
@tonydwagner @Marketplace Absolutely, for me this service has replaced Spotify permanently.
— Damon Merwin (@DamonMerwin) September 22, 2015
@tonydwagner @mikiebarb @Marketplace I was an Apple Music user but decided I wouldn't pay and went back to Spotify. Does that count?
— Peter Sterne (@petersterne) September 22, 2015
@tonydwagner @Marketplace @kairyssdal no, because the interface is too complicated and Spotify is way better.
— Steven Kream (@kream) September 22, 2015
Others were more pragmatic, weighing what they already spend on media.
@tonydwagner @Marketplace I'll be keeping my subscription. I tend to buy 7-10 albums per year, plus another 20 singles. The math makes sense
— Christopher Tawes (@tawes) September 22, 2015
@tonydwagner @Marketplace my word, no. Add nflx, prime, apple music and you've got what I pay for my millennial cable (HBO only) a month.
— Patrick Murphy (@PatBernieMurphy) September 22, 2015
@tonydwagner @Marketplace I consume a lot more than $10 of music each month so it's the best option available
— Jess Unger (@UngerJess) September 22, 2015
Will you keep Apple Music once the trial wraps up? Let us know using the form below.