Apple introduced its music streaming service, Apple Music long time back in India and even though the subscription plans were low, the service did not kick off as expected. Apple users have been using this service for long, but the company wants to promote cross-platform usage.
Adding to the existing two plans, Apple Music has added a new subscription plans for college and school students, called the Student Membership plan. Students enrolled in degree-granting universities and colleges can join Apple Music at a discounted monthly rate. This plans has been rolled out to 25 countries, including India.
The college-enrolled students can be enrolled in this plan for 4 years, without any continuity. This allows more college going students to get Apple Music on their smartphone and enjoy music on the go for lower prices.
This service has been priced at Rs. 60, that gives you unlimited access to music on Apple Music. It is a steal considering it is equivalent to $1 in other countries, which it is actually priced higher. This subscription service is also half the price of an individual membership.
How to Enroll into the Student Membership Plan?
When you join Apple Music as a student member, UNiDAYS, a student validation service, confirms that you’re enrolled in a degree-granting university or college. To qualify for an Apple Music Student Membership, you must be a student studying a bachelor degree or postgraduate degree at a university.
Periodically, UNiDAYS re-validates your student status. If UNiDAYS finds that you are no longer a student or if you reach 48 months of Student Membership, your membership automatically becomes an Apple Music Individual Membership.
You need to be extremely careful about renewing your membership program, since it will cost double the student membership program.
Convert Your Existing Plan to Student Membership
If you’re a student and are already subscribed to one of the plans on Apple Music, you can get your ID validated and convert it to student membership plan.
There will be a ‘change to a student membership’ option in Apple Music after you sign in. Pressing on that will require you to list down your university or college. Sign into your institution’s portal.
In some countries, you’ll need to access the Apple Music offer while you’re connected to your institution’s Wi-Fi network and provide your academic email address. After you sign in and are verified as a student, you’re redirected back to iTunes to finish the join process.
All these steps can be done Android, iOS devices and desktop. All new users get 3 months of free-trial which can be very useful in deciding whether you want to stick with this service or go for other alternatives.
If you want to check out this service, or Apple Music in general, go on to Apple Membership page and sign-up for a three month free service. Make sure to update your billing info and check it regularly before the free months get over.
What are the alternatives?
Some might say that Apple student membership plan might be expensive, but it is actually very cheap. Yes it uses data pack and yes it might eat up some prepaid balance on your phone, but it still costs Rs. 60 which is very convenient for students who own a smartphone.
All services like Gaana, Wynk Music, Saavn and Hungama offer a starting membership price of Rs. 99 which is lower than Apple Music’s individual membership plan. Gaana and Hungama do not have a month of usage at this price, rather less than that which makes them expensive.
Compared to these, Apple Music seems like a sweet deal for students. Apple Music has that problem of downloading songs only through iTunes and that could come in the way for Android users. However, the software is decent and the music collection is phenomenal.
If you’re a student, we recommend you Apple Music and even if you have only a couple years of university left, it is still a wonderful deal. If you’re not in college anymore, you might want to look at Wynk Music and Saavn for exciting subscription services.
