Apple Music is a music and video streaming service developed by Apple. Users can access millions of songs, curated playlists, music videos, live radio stations, and more by subscribing to the service. Apple Music offers individual plans for $9.99/month, family plans for up to 6 users for $14.99/month, and student plans for $4.99/month (https://www.apple.com/apple-music/).
When a user’s Apple Music subscription expires after the billing period ends, they will lose access to certain features like streaming songs on-demand and downloading music to their library. However, some features like access to previously downloaded music, playlists, and stations may still be available in limited capacity. This article will explore what exactly happens when an Apple Music subscription lapses.
Music Library Access
When your Apple Music subscription expires, your access to the Apple Music library becomes limited. You can no longer stream or download songs from the Apple Music catalog. However, you retain access to any music you personally purchased from the iTunes Store (1). This includes albums and individual song purchases. So even though you lose access to the millions of songs in the Apple Music library, any music you own will still be playable.
You can continue listening to purchased music through the Apple Music app. However, you won’t be able to search or browse the full Apple Music catalog. Your library view will only show music you own (2). Essentially, the app acts as a player for your purchased music library only. Any songs or albums saved from the Apple Music subscription will become unavailable when the subscription lapses.
So in summary, while subscribed, you have full access to Apple’s huge music catalog plus your purchases. After expiration, you can only access your purchased music library. The Apple Music collection becomes off limits until you resubscribe.
Downloaded Music
If you downloaded songs or albums directly from the Apple Music catalog during your subscription, you will lose access to those downloads when your subscription expires. According to discussions on the Apple Support Communities forum, Apple Music tracks downloaded during an active subscription “will refuse to play and will later be deleted” once the subscription lapses (source).
However, any music purchases you made separately through the iTunes Store will not be affected. As explained on the Apple discussions forum, “if they are actual purchased tracks that you downloaded from the iTunes Store, they do not expire, and do not require a subscription to listen to” (source). So downloads from previous iTunes purchases remain accessible even after an Apple Music subscription ends.
The key distinction is between downloads included with an Apple Music subscription versus purchased downloads. Purchased music stays in your library, while music downloaded through a subscription is inaccessible after that subscription expires.
Playlists
When your Apple Music subscription expires, you will lose access to any playlists you’ve created within the service. This means the playlists themselves will disappear from your library and you won’t be able to play or edit them. According to discussions on the Apple Support Communities site, “Once your Apple Music subscription is canceled you will lose access to the playlists you created.” (Source).
Any playlists you made during your subscription will no longer be available or editable after expiration. Playlists created on Apple Music act as a curated library of songs you’ve added while subscribed. But without an active subscription, Apple Music no longer gives you access to stream or manage those playlists. Essentially, your custom playlists disappear after your subscription lapses.
Recommendations
One of the key features of Apple Music is the personalized recommendations you receive based on your listening habits, likes, and dislikes. But what happens to these personalized recommendations when your subscription expires?
According to discussions on the Apple Support Communities forum, you will lose access to personalized recommendations once your Apple Music subscription ends. Recommendations are generated by Apple’s algorithms based on your full listening history and preferences. Without an active subscription, Apple Music no longer has access to your complete data to serve relevant suggestions.
As noted in this Apple Support discussion, personalized playlists created for you such as My Chill Mix and My Favorites Mix will disappear when your subscription expires. The automated curation relying on your data stops working.
So in summary, the personalized recommendations are a premium feature of the paid Apple Music subscription. If you cancel your membership, you’ll lose these customized suggestions based on your tastes.
Radio Stations
Apple Music offers a variety of radio stations that can be streamed for free, even without an active subscription. According to Apple’s support article, Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country do not require a paid subscription to listen. Users can simply open the Radio tab in the Music app and select one of these stations.
In addition to these Apple-curated stations, the MakeUseOf article explains that you can still access any traditional AM, FM or internet radio stations through the Music app as well. The Radio tab will display local radio stations based on your location that you can tune into for free. This allows you access to thousands of stations worldwide.
So in summary, even after an Apple Music subscription has expired, users can still access curated Apple stations and local AM/FM radio broadcasts through the Music app. The key limitation is that customized radio stations based on artists, songs, or genres will no longer be available without the paid subscription.
Shared Libraries
If you joined an Apple Music family plan, your access to shared libraries will be removed once your subscription expires. Shared libraries allow family plan members to view and listen to each other’s music libraries through Apple Music. But this sharing capability disappears if your membership lapses.
According to discussions on the Apple website, you will no longer be able to view or access any shared libraries from other family members after your subscription ends. The threads indicate that Apple Music access is tied to an active subscription, so shared library privileges are revoked once that subscription expires, even if you were previously part of a family group.
To restore access to shared family libraries, you would need to resubscribe to Apple Music, either as an individual or by rejoining the family group. Apple Support cautions that if your membership lapses for an extended period, you may lose access to any shared playlists as well.1
Account Downgrades
If you want to downgrade from a Family plan to an Individual plan on Apple Music, you can do so by following these steps:
First, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and tap on your name at the top. Then select “Subscriptions” and tap on “Apple Music.” Here you will see an option to “See All Plans.” Tap this and you can choose to downgrade to the Individual plan.
When downgrading from Family to Individual, your personal music library and playlists will remain intact. However, you will lose access to the shared family library that was available on the Family plan. The other family members will also lose access to your shared library.
According to Apple Support discussions, your Apple Music preferences, recommendations, and stations will transfer over as well when you downgrade. You won’t lose anything you personally added to the service.1
Once you complete the downgrade, all the family members will be notified and will no longer be able to access the shared Family library. They will each need to start individual Apple Music accounts if they want to continue using the service.
Resubscribing
If you choose to resubscribe to Apple Music after your subscription expires, you may be wondering what happens to your music library and playlists. According to Apple Support discussions, when you resubscribe, you will need to re-download any music saved to your library (Source). iCloud Music Library gets disabled when your subscription ends, so your downloads don’t get saved.
However, there are a couple ways you can restore your Apple Music library after resubscribing. One method is to turn on Sync Library in your Apple Music settings before your subscription expires. This syncs your library and playlists to iCloud so they can be restored when you resubscribe. You can also use a third party app like iMazing to backup and restore your music library (Source).
While there’s no guarantee everything will be restored perfectly, you have good chances of getting back most of your music library when resubscribing to Apple Music if you take the proper steps before your subscription ends.
Key Takeaways
Any music you’ve downloaded can still be played and transferred even after your Apple Music subscription expires. Your personal playlists also remain intact so you can continue accessing them. However, you’ll lose access to Apple’s full music catalog and will not be able to stream songs or watch music videos that aren’t in your personal library. Radio stations created by Apple’s algorithms are no longer accessible either. Shared libraries from friends and family will disappear from your account as well, reverting it back to an individual plan. While you can’t stream from the Apple Music library without a subscription, any music saved to your device can still be played indefinitely, letting you continue enjoying portions of your music library without paying.