Streaming music is weirdly expensive if you aren't paying attention. You blink, and suddenly your bank statement is a graveyard of $10.99 or $16.99 charges for services you barely use. That’s why everybody looks for a free month of apple music. It sounds simple. You sign up, you listen to some Taylor Swift or some obscure 90s shoegaze, and you cancel before the bill hits. But honestly? The "one month" thing is actually the bare minimum. If you’re only getting thirty days, you’re basically leaving money on the table because Apple uses these trials as a massive customer acquisition funnel.
Most people just head to the App Store, see a pop-up, and click "Try it Free." That’s fine. It works. But it's also the least efficient way to do it. Apple is constantly cycling through different promotional periods depending on whether you bought a pair of AirPods recently, if you have a Best Buy account, or even if you use certain credit cards.
The basic free month of Apple Music (and why it’s sometimes longer)
If you are a brand new subscriber—meaning your Apple ID has never touched the music service before—you get the standard free month of apple music. This is the baseline. You open the Music app on your iPhone, Mac, or Android device (yes, it exists on Android), and the offer should hit you right in the face.
But wait.
Sometimes it’s not just a month. For years, the standard was actually three months. Apple shortened it to one month globally in early 2022 to match Spotify’s strategy, but they didn’t kill the longer trials entirely. They just moved them.
For example, if you buy a new pair of AirPods (Pro, Max, or the standard Gen 2/3), Beats headphones, or even a HomePod, Apple usually bumps that trial up to six months. Six. That is half a year of Spatial Audio and lossless streaming without spending a dime. The catch is that you usually only have 90 days from the time you first pair your new device to claim that offer. If you wait too long, it reverts back to the standard free month of apple music.
The Best Buy and Shazam loopholes
You don't actually have to buy a $500 pair of headphones to get more than 30 days. This is the part most people overlook. Retailers like Best Buy have a long-standing partnership with Apple. If you go to the Best Buy website and search for "Apple Music," you’ll often find a "Free Apple Music for up to 4 months" (or 3, depending on the season) digital product.
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You "buy" it for $0.00.
They email you a code.
You redeem it.
It’s often available to returning subscribers too, though not always. Then there is Shazam. Since Apple owns Shazam, they frequently run promotions through the app. If you use Shazam to identify a song, you might see a notification offering a multi-month trial. I’ve seen people get three months through Shazam even after they’ve already used a trial years ago. It’s worth a shot.
What happens to your library when the trial ends?
This is the scary part. If you take your free month of apple music, build a massive library of 5,000 songs, curate the perfect "Late Night Drive" playlist, and then let the subscription lapse... it all vanishes.
Not immediately, usually. But Apple doesn't keep your library data forever for non-paying users. Unlike Spotify, which just reverts you to a free, ad-supported tier where your playlists stay intact, Apple Music is a "pay to play" system. No sub, no music. If you don't resubscribe within a few months, your carefully curated library is purged from their servers.
If you're planning to use a free month of apple music just to check out a specific album, that's fine. But if you're moving your entire digital life there, have a backup plan. There are services like SongShift or Soundiiz that can export your playlists to other platforms if you decide the $10.99/month isn't worth it after the trial ends.
The "New Subscriber" vs. "Returning Subscriber" confusion
Apple is very picky about who counts as "new." Generally, if you’ve ever had a paid subscription or a trial on your current Apple ID, you’re disqualified from the standard free month of apple music offer you see in the app.
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However, "Target Circles" or "Best Buy" deals sometimes offer "up to 3 months for new subscribers and 2 months for returning subscribers." This is the gold mine. They want you back. They know that once you’ve integrated your music into your Siri commands and your Apple Watch, you’re more likely to stay.
Family Sharing: The ultimate hack?
If you live in a household with other people, Apple Music Family Sharing is a massive loophole. If one person in the family group hasn’t used their free month of apple music, they can start the trial and share it with up to five other people in the "Family" group.
Each person gets their own private library. You don't have to listen to your dad's weird obsession with 70s prog-rock. But you all get the benefit of that one person's trial. It’s an easy way to extend the "free" feeling across an entire household.
Lossless Audio and Dolby Atmos: Do they work on a trial?
Yes. Absolutely. Unlike some other services that might gatekeep high-quality audio behind a premium "Pro" tier, a free month of apple music gives you the exact same features as a paying subscriber.
- Lossless Audio: This is CD-quality or better. You won't hear a difference on $20 Bluetooth earbuds. You need a wired connection and a decent DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) to really feel it.
- Spatial Audio / Dolby Atmos: This is the "surround sound" for your ears. It’s hit or miss. Some albums, like Abbey Road, sound incredible. Others sound like the instruments are being played in a cardboard box across the street.
- Apple Music Sing: This is basically karaoke mode. It lets you turn down the vocals on millions of songs. It's surprisingly fun and works perfectly during the trial period.
The cancellation strategy
If you're worried about getting charged, you can actually cancel your free month of apple music almost immediately after signing up.
On an iPhone:
Settings > [Your Name] > Subscriptions > Apple Music > Cancel Free Trial.
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In most cases, Apple will let you continue using the service until the expiration date. However—and this is a big "however"—sometimes Apple trials end the second you hit cancel. Read the fine print on the pop-up. If it says "Your trial will end immediately," wait until day 28 to cancel. Set a calendar alert. Put a sticky note on your fridge. Do not give them $11 by accident if you don't want to.
Is it better than Spotify's free tier?
Honestly, it depends on how much you hate ads. Spotify's free tier is "free forever," but it’s miserable. You can’t skip more than a few songs, you can’t pick specific tracks on mobile (mostly), and the ads are jarring.
A free month of apple music is a premium experience. No ads. High fidelity. Downloads for offline listening (perfect for flights). If you have a long trip coming up, grabbing a trial just for the offline downloads is a pro move.
Apple One: A different way to get the month
If you use iCloud for storage or play games on Apple Arcade, you might want to look at the Apple One bundle trial instead of just a free month of apple music.
Apple One bundles:
- Apple Music
- Apple TV+
- Apple Arcade
- iCloud+ (50GB)
You can get a free month of the whole bundle. If you’ve already used a trial for Music but not for Arcade or TV+, you might still be able to get the bundle trial, though the Music portion might be excluded. It’s a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, but it’s worth checking your subscriptions tab in settings to see what "bundles" are being offered to you.
Actionable Next Steps
If you want to maximize your free music experience right now, don't just click the first link you see.
- Check your hardware: Did you buy any Apple audio products in the last 90 days? Go to the Music app and look for the "Get 6 Months Free" banner.
- Check external retailers: Visit the Best Buy website and search for "Apple Music Free." This is often the easiest way to get 3-4 months instead of just one.
- Check your carrier: If you’re on Verizon or certain EE plans (in the UK), Apple Music might actually be included in your phone plan for six months or even indefinitely. You might already be paying for it without knowing.
- Set a "Kill Date": The moment you activate your free month of apple music, set a reminder on your phone for 28 days later. This gives you a 48-hour buffer to cancel before the auto-renewal kicks in.
- Download for offline: Immediately go to Settings > Music and turn on "Download over Cellular" if you have unlimited data, or just start hearting songs so they sync to your device. This ensures you have music even when you're in a dead zone or on a plane.
The reality is that Apple wants you to subscribe. They make the onboarding incredibly smooth. But by being a little more strategic than the average user, you can easily turn a free month of apple music into a much longer period of free entertainment. Just remember that once you stop paying, your library starts a countdown to deletion. Use that trial to see if the ecosystem is actually worth your monthly coffee budget.