Apple is increasing the price of its Apple Music student plans in several countries around the globe.
A student from South Africa shared an email Apple sent announcing the price increase. “Thank you for subscribing to Apple Music. We wanted to let you know about an upcoming change to this subscription. Apple is raising the price of this subscription from $1.49 per month to $1.99 per month,” the email reads.
MacRumors has confirmed that students in Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Israel, and Kenya are impacted by the Apple Music student plan price increase. The move appears to be focused on developing countries instead of established markets like the United States and Europe. Currently, US students pay $4.99 per month for Apple Music.
The Apple Music student plan price increase follows several music streaming companies increasing their prices. Last year, Spotify increased the price of its student offerings around the globe by $1. Earlier this month, the Amazon Music Unlimited plans went up by $1, too.
The Amazon Music Unlimited Echo device plan now costs $4.99 per month. Amazon Music Unlimited for Prime members is now $8.99 a month or $89 per year. These changes only impact Amazon Prime members, however. For non-Prime members, Amazon Music Unlimited remains $9.99 per month.
In April 2021, Spotify raised the prices of its subscriptions across the United Kingdom and Europe. In the UK, Spotify Student increased from £4.99 to £5.99 per month. Spotify Duo also got a price hike from £12.99 to £13.99 per month. Finally, Spotify Family went up from £14.99 to £16.99 a month.
Apple doesn’t appear to be making any changes to its subscription offerings outside of the student plan. Most of the regions that are seeing a price increase already have rock bottom pricing due to launching in emerging markets. For example, students in India pay the equivalent of $0.63 per month for access to Apple Music. Subscription prices that low aren’t sustainable for Apple or artists.