• Prices are going up across almost all the Apple Music tiers
• There are some bumps in Apple Music prices too
• These are the first price hikes we've seen since October 2022

Apple Music is the latest subscription package to get a bump in price, leaving users with the choice between paying more or losing access to the streaming part of their library. The bundled Apple One package that includes Apple Music now costs more as well.

As reported by Music Business Worldwide (via Engadget), the reason cited by Apple is "rising licensing costs". It's the first price hike for this particular subscription we've seen since October 2022. The new monthly prices are below:

The Apple One price increases are less clear, as they're not as easily available on the Apple website. It appears the Apple One Family plan is now $27.95 per month (up $2) and the Apple One Premier plan is now $39.95 (also up $2), though the Apple One Individual plan has stayed at $19.95. Internationally, similar price rises are likely.

This comes at a time when everything tech-related is getting more expensive, from laptops to streaming services. Exploding AI resource demand has sent the price of memory and storage rocketing, and that continues to have a knock-on effect everywhere.

Loss of control

Apple raises prices for Apple Music and Apple One subscriptions from r/apple

Apple is of course by no means the first company to put up its subscription prices, but it's a reminder of the pitfalls of the digital rental model. As soon as you stop paying, you lose access — so if you need a service, you have no choice but to accept the higher price.

The online reaction has mostly focused on this too: "It's not even about the cost sometimes," writes one Redditor. "It's about loss of control over your finances. Companies can jack up their prices whenever they want." Few commenters seem ready to quit Apple Music, though many are pointing out the billions that Apple has in the bank.

Apple Music doesn't have a free tier like Spotify does, but it beats every other music streaming service in the support it gives you for local files. If you have enough MP3s and ripped CDs, you can use it perfectly well without a subscription.

As we've written about recently, Apple is selling more and more of its software products through recurring payments rather than a flat one-off fee, and one of the reasons is that it's more profitable — and makes it more likely that users will continue to pay up.