Apple Music’s free trial isn’t free any longer for some testers.
The iPhone maker has started charging customers in Australia, Spain, and Switzerland to access Apple Music for three months, Apple-tracking site AppleInsider is reporting. Apple’s divisions in those countries are charging the equivalent of 99 cents in the local currency. Coins2Day separately confirmed the charges, which are listed on Apple’s site.
Since its release in 2015, Apple Music has provided customers a paid streaming-music option. Apple (AAPL) has also offered a free, three-month trial for customers to try out the service before they buy. Upon gaining access to Apple Music, users can stream millions of songs from Apple’s library and create playlists. Apple Music also has a recommendation engine that will recommend songs based on user taste.
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It’s unclear why Apple is charging for access to its service and why some countries are affected and others are not. AppleInsider speculated that Apple pays royalties on all streams, including those played over free trials, and might be trying to defray some of those costs by charging customers.
For its part, Apple hasn’t commented on the change and whether other fees will be assessed on people trying out Apple Music in other countries. The company did not respond to a Coins2Day request for comment on the move.