In October 2021, Apple announced the Apple Music Voice Plan, a new low-cost subscription tier for ‌Apple Music‌. This article explains what the voice plan is, what you need to use it, how to become a new subscriber, and how to listen to music with the service.
What is the Apple Music Voice Plan?
The ‌Apple Music‌ voice plan allows you to access the ‌Apple Music‌ catalog with Siri. Priced at $ 4.99, the voice plan gives access to all songs, playlists, and stations in Apple Music‌ using ‌Siri‌, and is complemented by a personalized in-app experience with suggestions based on your music preferences and a recently played music queue.
The voice plan is primarily designed to let you request songs and albums from the ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ catalog by ‌‌Siri‌‌ request, rather than through the ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ app interface. In this sense, it is useful with CarPlay in the car and on the ‌HomePod‌ where the natural inclination is to use voice control.
As for the ‌Apple Music‌ app, the voice plane fills out the Listen Now section, where you can find the music you’ve recently played and discover personalized music recommendations that you can listen to with just a tap or by asking ‌Siri‌. . In the Radio tab, you can access live and on-demand radio, and you can use the search box to find music, but you can only play it by asking for “Siri.”
What are the limits of the voice plan?
First and most obvious, the voice plane can only be activated through Siri‌, whereas on a standard ‌Apple Music‌ subscription you can use ‌Siri‌ to play anything from the ‌Apple Music‌ catalog and use premium features, like full access to the ‌Apple Music‌ app, download music, sync your library to your devices, and more.
As a result, Apple Music‌‌ Voice Plan has a limited interface in the ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ app, but it offers full access to Apple’s song catalog and radio stations, as well as suggested playlists. You can actually search for artists, albums and songs using ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ app, and you can listen to sample songs, but not the full song. If you find a song in Apple Music‌‌ that you want to play after hearing the preview by tapping on it, you will need to ask ‌‌Siri‌‌ to play the full version.
Users can ask ‌Siri‌ for music suggestions provided based on listening history or likes and dislikes, and a “Replay†feature allows users to access a list of recently played music. There is no option to add songs or albums to library, nor can you create playlists or save music for offline listening. If you want these features, you need to upgrade to ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ full subscription.
Finally, there is no support for Spatial Audio or Lossless Audio, two features that require the ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ plan at $ 9.99 per month, and there is also no option to display lyrics, either. watch music videos or see what your friends are listening to.
Where is the voice plan available?
The ‌Apple Music‌ voice package is available in 17 countries and regions, including Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States.
How to Subscribe to Apple Music Voice
As the voice plane is centered around using ‌Siri‌, you will naturally need to own at least one Apple device that supports ‌Siri‌, such as Apple TV, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods or HomePod mini. IPhones and iPads must have iOS 15.2 or later installed to access the ‌Apple Music‌ voice plan. If you intend to use a Mac to access the voice plan, it must be running macOS Monterey 12.1.
If you are new to ‌Apple Music‌, you can start a seven day free trial of ‌Apple Music‌ Voice by saying “Hey ‌Siri‌, start ‌Apple Music‌ Voice†or by tapping the Voice Plan option in the ‌Apple Music‌ app on an ‌iPhone‌, ‌IPad‌, Mac or ‌Apple TV‌. After seven days, you can subscribe to the Voice plan in the ‌Apple Music‌ app.
If you are unable to subscribe to the package, check that it is available in your country (see above). Also check that your device supports ‌Siri‌ and that it is up to date with the latest software version:
- An ‌iPhone‌ or ‌iPad‌ with iOS or iPadOS 15.2 or later
- An ‌Apple TV‌ with tvOS 15.2 or later
- A Mac with macOS 12.1 or later
How to Play Music with Apple Music Voice
To listen to a song, album, or artist, say:
- “Hey ‌Siri‌, play Moonlight Drive by The Doors.”
- “Hey ‌Siri‌, play Adele’s best songs.”
- “Hey ‌Siri‌, play Lucy Dacus’ new album.”
To play hits from any decade or genre say:
- “Hey ‌Siri‌, play some 90s hip-hop songs.”
- “Hey ‌Siri‌, play the best songs of the year.”
- “Hey ‌Siri‌, play some 90s ambient.”
You can also play mood according to your mood or activity (“Hey ‌Siri‌, play practice music.”) And find out what is playing (“Hey ‌Siri‌, who’s singing this song?”). Plus, you can request live and on-demand radio and control what is being broadcast (“Hey ‌Siri‌, skip this song.â€)
Apple has also added hundreds of new Ambience and Activity playlists to ‌Apple Music‌ that have been optimized for voice. Subscribers can ask ‌Siri‌ to “Play Dinner Playlistâ€, “Play Something Relaxing†or even “Play More Like This†for a personalized music experience.
The more music you listen to, the more Apple Music learns about what you like and what you don’t. And you can help ‌Apple Music‌ to learn your music tastes by telling ‌Siri‌ when you like or dislike a song, which is like like or dislike content in ‌Apple Music‌ app.
All in all, this is a decent option for someone who will be using ‌‌Siri‌‌ exclusively on something like a ‌‌HomePod‌ or ‌CarPlay‌‌ and wants to save money, although there are a lot of extra features you get with them. Additional $ 5 for the full $ 9.99 per month ‌‌Apple Music‌‌ schedule.
