Apple Music is a music and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. It offers access to over 90 million songs as well as podcasts, live radio stations, and music videos. Playlists on Apple Music are collections of songs or albums that are curated around a theme, genre, mood, activity, decade, artist, or composer. Playlists make it easy for users to discover new music and enjoy their favorite songs. With Apple Music, users can browse featured playlists created by Apple’s music experts, listen to playlists curated by artists and celebrities, or create their own custom playlists to suit any mood or occasion. Playlists have become an integral part of the Apple Music experience.
Playlists on Apple Music
Playlists are collections of songs grouped together for a specific theme or purpose. They allow users to listen to curated sets of tracks based on mood, genre, activity, decade, artist, and more. Playlists are a core feature of Apple Music and help users discover new music and organize their existing libraries.
Apple Music offers thousands of pre-made playlists created by Apple’s music editors across many genres, activities, moods and interests. These playlists feature creative names and cover artwork and are regularly updated with new songs. Apple Music also enables users to create their own custom playlists to suit their tastes. These can be shared with friends or kept private.
Playlists are an integral way Apple Music users listen to music. They provide a more customized and personalized listening experience compared to just playing albums. Playlists can be downloaded for offline listening, and sync across devices. They help Apple Music stand out from other streaming services.
Requirements for Apple Music
Apple Music is a subscription-based music streaming service that gives users access to millions of songs, music videos, and other content. However, in order to gain full access to all of Apple Music’s features and content, a paid subscription is required
[1]
.
Without an Apple Music subscription, users are limited in what they can access. Playlists created by other users cannot be streamed in full and are restricted to song previews only. Additionally, some content like music videos and concert live streams require a paid subscription
[2]
.
So while it is possible to access some Apple Music content without a subscription, a paid membership is necessary to unlock the full Apple Music library and take advantage of all features. This includes ad-free listening, unlimited skips, high quality audio, and the ability to save music for offline listening
[3]
.
Accessing Playlists without a Subscription
Apple Music users can access and preview their playlists without an active subscription, with some limitations. When you create playlists on Apple Music, they are saved to your account. If your subscription expires, you can still open the Apple Music app and view your library of playlists.
Without a paid subscription, you can see the full song list in each playlist, including the artists, album names, and track lengths. This allows you to browse your music library and playlists even after unsubscribing.
However, without a subscription, you can only play short previews of each song in your playlists, usually just 30-90 seconds. To play full songs on demand, you will need an active Apple Music subscription.
According to Apple’s support site, “You can play previews of Apple Music songs without a subscription.” So browsing your playlists and previewing clips of songs is possible without paying for a monthly plan (1).
Overall, while a subscription unlocks full playback capabilities, users can still access their Apple Music library and preview clip lengths of songs in playlists without subscribing.
(1) https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204939
Number of Songs Available
When you create a playlist in Apple Music without a paid subscription, there is a limit to how many songs you can add and listen to as previews. According to discussions on the Apple forums, Apple Music playlists are capped at 100,000 songs for subscribers. However, for users without a paid Apple Music subscription, the number of songs available to preview in a playlist is much more restricted.
Apple does not provide official details on the non-subscriber preview limit. However, users report only being able to add approximately 500-1,000 songs to a playlist before hitting the cap. Once this limit is reached, users will receive an error message when trying to add additional tracks. While subscribers have access to their full playlists, non-paying users can only listen to short previews of the first 500-1,000 songs.
Length of Preview
When you access an Apple Music playlist without a paid subscription, you can only listen to short preview clips of each song. The length of these preview clips varies, but is typically around 30 seconds long. Some users have reported the previews being between 30-90 seconds depending on the song (Source).
So while you can see and scroll through the full playlist, you’ll only be able to hear a short snippet of each track. For most songs, this will just be about 30 seconds or so – not the full length version. This limited preview is meant to give you a taste of the music before deciding whether to purchase a full subscription. If you want to listen to complete songs or albums from your Apple Music playlist, you’ll need to sign up for a paid membership.
Options for Unsubscribed Users
While an active Apple Music subscription is required to stream songs and access full playlists, there are some limited options still available to unsubscribed users. According to discussions on the Apple forums, unsubscribed users can still follow playlists created by other users and see song titles (but not stream full songs). This allows you to browse playlists and get ideas for music to add later if you eventually subscribe.
You can also still share playlists with others, even without a subscription. The playlists remain accessible and anyone you’ve shared with can see the song titles. However, they would also need an active Apple Music subscription to be able to stream the full songs. So sharing can be a good way to recommend playlists and music to friends and family who are subscribers.
Overall, while an active subscription is required to get the most out of Apple Music, unsubscribed users can still engage with the platform in a limited capacity by following and sharing playlists. This allows you to keep up to date on music trends and recommendations from others even without paying for a subscription.
Upgrading to a Paid Subscription
While Apple Music does allow users to access some content like previews and radio stations without a paid subscription, upgrading to a paid subscription unlocks the full experience and benefits of Apple Music.
The main benefits of an Apple Music paid subscription include:
- Access to Apple Music’s full catalog of over 90 million songs, which is far more than the limited previews available for free (Apple Music).
- The ability to download songs, albums, and playlists for offline listening when you don’t have an internet connection (Noteburner). This is especially useful when traveling.
- No ads interrupting your listening experience (Digital Trends).
- Higher quality audio such as lossless and high-resolution lossless tracks.
- Access to expert-curated and regularly updated playlists tailored to your tastes.
- integration with Siri for voice controls.
The price of an individual Apple Music subscription is $9.99 per month. Family plans are available for $14.99/month for up to 6 users. There is also a discounted student plan. While not free, for avid music fans an Apple Music subscription unlocks the ability to fully immerse in Apple’s massive music library.
Alternatives to Apple Music
If the Apple Music free tier doesn’t suit your needs, there are a few popular music streaming services that provide more features for free users or have different paid subscription offerings (cnet.com, pcmag.com).
Spotify offers a free ad-supported tier that allows on-demand streaming and playlist creation, but with limited skips and lower audio quality. Their premium subscription unlocks higher bitrate streaming, downloads, and ad-free listening. While they don’t have the Apple Music library, Spotify has a much larger catalog than the free Apple tier.
YouTube Music also provides ad-supported free streaming with the ability to create playlists and listen on-demand. Their paid service removes ads and allows background/offline playback. As it’s linked to YouTube, the service has a massive catalog of official songs, live performances, and remixes.
Other services like Amazon Music, Tidal, and Deezer have free tiers with shuffle or radio-style listening. Paid plans unlock the full on-demand catalogs. Each service has different pricing, features, and music libraries to compare.
Conclusion
In summary, Apple Music subscribers have full access to all playlists they have created or added, across all their devices. For non-subscribers, playlist access is limited to previewing up to 30 seconds of each song. While non-subscribers cannot play full songs or download playlists, they can still view playlist titles, album art, and names of songs and artists.
The main options for non-subscribers are to sign up for a paid Apple Music subscription to gain full access, look for alternative streaming services, or purchase music individually. For those interested in retaining access to their personal Apple Music playlists, an individual or family subscription may be worth considering.
Apple Music playlists provide a convenient way to organize and listen to music. With a paid subscription, you can access your full playlists across devices. Without one, preview functionality allows a sample of playlist content.