Apple Music Gaining New 'Voice Plan' for $4.99/Month

Apple today revealed a new subscription tier for Apple Music, called the "Voice Plan" and priced at $4.99/month. This plan has been designed around the power of Siri and offers subscribers access to the service's catalog of 90 million songs only through ‌Siri‌, hence the name.

This means that users on this tier can only access and play songs, playlists, and albums in ‌Apple Music‌ through their voice on devices like iPhone, iPad, AirPods, and HomePod mini. Users will be able to subscribe to the Voice Plan by saying "Hey ‌Siri‌, start my ‌Apple Music‌ Voice trial, or by using the ‌Apple Music‌ app. The trial lasts seven days.

This plan is available for one person, similar to the regular $9.99/month Individual Plan, but essentially lacking all of the regular app-based UI in the ‌Apple Music‌ app. Apple says that users will still have full playback control including unlimited song-skipping through ‌Siri‌.

Instead of the regular Music app UI, Voice Plan users will get a "customized in-app experience" with suggestions based on their music preferences and a queue of music that was recently played through ‌Siri‌. There will also be a section called "Just Ask ‌Siri‌" where subscribers can learn tips to optimize the voice assistant.

‌Apple Music‌ is also adding hundreds of new mood and activity playlists, which were created by ‌Apple Music‌'s editorial team and are optimized for the Voice Plan. Some examples Apple gave are asking ‌Siri‌ to "Play the dinner party playlist," "Play something chill," or "Play more like this."

These new playlists will be available to all subscribers on any ‌Apple Music‌ plan. Those on the Voice Plan will also still have access to ‌Apple Music‌'s entire lineup of playlists, like New Music Daily, Today's Hits, Today's Country, A-List Pop, and more.

The ‌Apple Music‌ Voice Plan will launch later this fall in 17 countries and regions, including: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.