Since its launch, Apple Music has required its users to subscribe to a plan in order to listen to streaming music from its library.
The need for subscription may soon change, as details discovered in the application codewhich may indicate the existence of a potential free, advertising-supported plan.
This information was released by an analyst called Aaron Perriswho found messages in the code that say “premium access required” e “Cannot skip more tracks“.
The first option points to a free plan, but there is also the possibility that Apple will launch it as a lowest cost plan. This is an option that some users have advocated, although Apple insiders emphasize that music is art and should never be free.
According to , this addition could further divide users, just as happened with a recent update to the application.
While a free plan would encourage some users to try it out, the fact that these references were discovered in a beta for Android means it’s possible that Apple is still a long way from introducing any additional non-paid plans or, equally possible, that the company could abandon the idea.
Since this was discovered on the Android platform, any changes Apple makes will be implemented on both iOS and Android. Apple offering a free or advertising-supported plan could help it increase your number of listenersas a 2025 Midia Research report revealed that Apple Music’s subscriber market share was much smaller than Spotify’s.
However, the introduction of a free plan on Apple Music directly contradicts what Oliver Schusservice president of Apple Music and international content, said in April 2026. Schusser said that Apple Music don’t need of a free plan to attract listeners and that offering such a plan harms artists and songwriters.
