Beats Music and AT&T have quietly removed the option to pay for the music streaming subscription service through the wireless carrier, although the change will not affect current subscribers. 9to5Mac received the following statement from AT&T:
There haven’t been any changes for AT&T customers who currently have the Beats Music family plan or who are within their free trial period. New subscribers can still get Beats Music through their app store or at beatsmusic.com.
Previously, AT&T subscribers could access a 90-day free trial of the now Apple-owned music streaming service with the option to bill the subscription fee with the wireless phone bill. AT&T also offered a unique family rate for the service at $14.99/month for up to five people and ten devices on an account.
AT&T says current Beats Music subscribers through the wireless carrier will be grandfathered in at the current rate and can continue to add devices to an account for accessing the service.
New customers can still subscribe to Beats Music, of course, either through Beats Music directly in via the added in-app purchase option. New subscribers are given a 14 day free trial with subscription options for one person and up to three devices at $9.99/month or $99.99/year.
Apple is reportedly looking to lower the price of Beats Music by asking music labels to lower their subscription fees. While Apple dodged reports of shutting down the music streaming service recently, a rebranded version of Beats Music is expected to debut sometime next year.
Apple acquired Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3 billion earlier this year. Beats Music is available for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and the web.
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Changes are coming pretty fast now that Apple owns Beats.
I used up the 14 day free trial offered by the app, then moved on to the 30 day free trial from AT&T. That trial ended the exact same day the news of the potentially lower prices came out. I didn’t renew after the trial period partially due to that news, but mostly because the $9.99/month AT&T deal is not as good as $99/year in-app deal (which can be had for less than $80 with a 20% off iTunes card. I have collected over $500+ of those things over the years … even bought Logic Pro at a 20% discount).
So … no loss here. There are far better deals.
I was always on the fence about trying it due to the pricing. I’ve heard good things, but you’re correct – there are better deals to be had.