Following its announcement earlier this month, Apple’s iTunes Radio has officially gone from an ad-supported, free platform to a paid service requiring all users to have a subscription to Apple Music.
The move marks the first time Apple has made iTunes Radio a paid service since its launch in 2013.
At $9.99 per month, your subscription will get you unlimited skipping of songs and you won’t have to listen to any ads.
If you try to access any channels on the platform from today, you will get a prompt to sign up for Apple Music.
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If you’re okay with advertising, Beats 1 is still available for free.
The decision to take the ad-supported radio service coincides with the company’s announcement that it will shutter its iAd App Network this year.
Apple Music’s main competitor is Spotify, and with 75 million monthly users (20 million of which are paid subscribers) Apple has got its work cut out for it if it’s going to catch up. The company said earlier this month that it has hit 10 million subscribers.
It will certainly be interesting to see if moving its radio service behind a paywall can up Apple Music subscriptions.
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