Apple Music is a music-streaming service that Apple launched in 2015. The service competes with the likes of Spotify, YouTube Music and Amazon Music Unlimited, offering users access to millions of songs and a multitude of features, depending on their subscription.

Apple offers five paid-for subscription options, one of which is the Apple Music Family subscription. There's also an individual monthly subscription, individual annual subscription, a Student subscription and a Voice Plan, as well as an option for Android device users.

This feature focuses on the Apple Music Family subscription, detailing everything you need to know from how much it costs to what it offers and where it is available. 

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Apple Music Family plan: How much does it cost?

The Apple Music Family plan costs $14.99/month in the US or £14.99/month in the UK and it includes access to Apple Music for up to six users, just like the Amazon Music Unlimited plan. It is slightly cheaper than the Spotify Premium for Family plan after Spotify increased its pricing.

To use an Apple Music Family subscription with other people in your family, you'll need to set up Family Sharing using a supported device. If you set up Family Sharing, you will automatically become the family organiser.

Apple Music is also part of the Apple One subscription bundle to Apple services. The Apple One Family tier offers you and up to five members of your family Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and 200GB of iCloud storage for $19.95/month in the US or $19.95 in the UK. There's also the Apple One Premier tier that costs $29.95/month in the US and £29.95/month in the UK, and includes Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, as well as News+, 2TB of iCloud storage and Fitness+ for you and five family members.

Apple Music Family Plan: What does it include?

The Apple Music Family plan not only offers access for up to six users, but each of those users will have their own individual account, which will allow them to stream ad-free music and videos, access over 90 million songs and their iTunes library, listen online or offline and download 100,000 songs to their library.

Family plan users will also get access across their devices, whilst also being able to see what friends are listening to and get access to Apple Music 1 live and on-demand radio shows.

They can choose what they share and when they share it with other members of the Family plan, or decide not to share at all, and they will also be able to share iTunes purchases if they have setup iCloud Family sharing.

Apple Music Family Plan: Where is it available?

The Apple Music Family plan is available globally, including the US, UK and Australia. You can see whether Apple Music Family plan is available in your country by heading here.

Apple Music Family Plan: How do you sign up?

You can subscribe to the Apple Music Family plan from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, or an Android device. If you already have an Apple Music Individual or Student subscription, you can change it to a Family subscription. Following the steps from Apple's support page here will help you manage your subscription options.

If someone already has Apple Music as an Individual or Student, renewal of that subscription is automatically cancelled when they join a Family plan.

If you are signing up to Apple Music from scratch, you'll find step-by-step instructions on how to setup a Family plan for Mac or PCs on this Apple support page.

We've detailed how to sign up for Apple Music Family plan on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch immediately below. Scroll a little further down for instructions on how to sign up for Apple Music Family plan on an Android device

Setting up Apple Music family on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch:

  1. Open the Apple Music app
  2. If you don't see an Apple Music screen, tap 'For You' at the bottom of the screen
  3. If you're joining Apple Music for the first time or previously used a trial, tap the trial offer
  4. If you currently subscribe to Apple Music, tap 'Sign In', then change to a Family subscription.
  5. Tap the Family option, then tap 'Start Trial'.
  6. If prompted, sign in with the Apple ID and password that you use with the iTunes Store.
  7. You might be asked to validate your billing info, but you won't be billed the full monthly price until after the trial ends.
  8. Add a valid payment method and tap 'Join'.
  9. If prompted, agree to the terms and conditions.
  10. Choose genres and artists that you like. You can also see what your friends are listening to and get notifications when artists release new music.

Family members already set up in Family Sharing will automatically have access to Apple Music following the steps above. If you don't have access, ask the family organiser to invite you to join Family Sharing.

Setting up Apple Music family on an Android device:

  1. Download the Apple Music app from Google Play.
  2. Open the Apple Music app. If you don't see an Apple Music screen, tap the three vertical dots, then tap 'For You'.
  3. If you're joining Apple Music for the first time or previously used a trial, tap the trial offer.
  4. If you currently subscribe to Apple Music, tap 'Sign In', then change to a Family subscription.
  5. Tap the Family option, then tap Start Trial.
  6. If prompted, sign in with the Apple ID and password that you use with the iTunes Store. If you don't have an Apple ID, click 'Create New Apple ID'.
  7. You might be asked to validate your billing info, but you won't be billed the full monthly price until after the trial ends. 
  8. Add a valid payment method and tap 'Join'.
  9. If prompted, agree to the terms and conditions.
  10. Choose genres and artists that you like. You can also see what your friends are listening to and get notifications when artists release new music.

To turn on iCloud Family Sharing: Tap the three vertical dots > Account Settings > Manage Membership > Manage Family.