Right as news is breaking that the Apple and Beats deal is finally official for $3B, the Beats iOS app has just been updated with new pricing and an extended free trial for all users.
Up from the previous free 7-day trial offered by the service, Beats Music now offers a “no strings attached trial” for 14 days to all users. Most notable in the update, however, is the fact that the service is slashing pricing from $119.88 a year to $99.99/year:
We’ve dropped price of our yearly subscription to $99.99, down from $119.88.
The service will continue to charge $9.99/month for users not purchasing a yearly subscription. The Beats Music website FAQ has been updated to reflect the new pricing and also continues to list $15/month family plans and extended free trials offered to AT&T customers.
Apple also confirmed today that it will continue to operate Beats Music as a separate service including Android and Windows phone apps.
Version 2.1.0 also includes “tons of bug fixes so the whole experience runs smooth as silk.”
What’s New in Version 2.1.0
● We’re stoked to announce that our no strings attached trial has been extended to 14 days to ensure everyone gets ample time to explore the full Beats Music experience.
● We’ve dropped price of our yearly subscription to $99.99, down from $119.88.
● To top it off, we pushed tons of bug fixes so the whole experience runs smooth as silk.
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Tried to sign up. They want too much info, like my DOB and phone number and real name and gender. WHY? I’ll try again later once they just link it to my AppleID.
You have your real name (presumably) here, what’s the problem with putting it in the app?
Good call. Use Apple ID. They just have your real name, birthdate, credit card, buying habits, home address….
Am I misunderstanding what Beats Music is? They stress the radio aspect of it but does it also allow users to pick what they listen to like Spotify?
You can choose any song, album or artist that Beats has in their catalog. The “radio” aspect is actually where you pick a genre, mood, environment, etc, and Beats selects an automatic playlist based on those selections. It’s called “The Sentence”, and it’s a neat idea…
Now that I know I may decide to switch to this from Spotify. Maybe they need a better marketing team when a guy like me knows so little about something like this.
Just so you know, they also serve up albums and playlist to your home screen every day based on what you’ve “liked” and listened to – it allows for some great discovery. Plus you get a feed of what’s “in the moment” – i.e. past Grammy winners when the awards show is on TV…
I’ve been using the service since it came out and I still love it…
So is the AT&T pricing going to drop anytime soon or am I still going to be on the $15/month plan for the foreseeable future?
Taking my first look today. Can’t really see what all the fuss is about. Certainly not my idea of how to spend 3billion, much less 9.99 per month. Maybe Apple will improve the odds.