What Is Apple Music Select?

If you own an iPhone or another Apple device, your streaming service of choice might be Apple Music. The streamer offers access to over 100 million songs across numerous genres as well as live radio stations. You can listen to high-quality audio with compatible devices as well as content in immersive Spatial Audio. There are also exclusive artist interviews and more Apple Music features you won't find on YouTube Music. It's entirely ad-free once you have a standalone subscription, a free trial (which is usually offered for new subscribers with the purchase of an Apple device), or an Apple One subscription. Pricing, which has just increased following Mac and iPad price hikes, starts at $11.99 per month for an individual plan or $19.99 per month for a family plan you can share with up to five others. But there's a new option to consider for some locations called Apple Music Select.

With Apple Music Select, you can gain access to a smaller selection of ad-free stations with a focus on regional content. Available in certain countries if you have an iCloud+ subscription, it's a useful way to get a taste of the service without diving right into a full subscription. But it's also the response to a switch from the Apple One bundle subscription to iCloud+, which offers perks alongside extra storage, in participating locales.

Apple Music Select is one of a few upgrades available to iCloud+ subscribers in certain countries, which will now include Apple TV and Apple Arcade as well. The list of more than 100 countries where this service will be rolling out from now through the end of September includes ones like Mozambique and Egypt. Interestingly, however, this list does not include the U.S., Canada, Australia, or the U.K., nor any larger European countries like Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, and Sweden. If you are in a participating country, you'll see the stations in the Home tab of the Apple Music app.

Apple Music Select's curated selection of music consists of top tunes from the last several decades, dating back to the 1980s, as well as regional music. If you decide you want to subscribe to the full Apple Music service, which also offers thoughtful playlist curation as one of its perks, those in participating countries who are subscribed to iCloud+ can sign up for a discounted rate. In Mozambique, for example, it's $2.79 per month for an individual or $4.49 per month for a family. It's a nominal fee, but it also means Apple Music is not included in iCloud+ by default in these countries, only Apple Music Select. For family plans, the discounted price is only for the person who manages and pays for the iCloud+ subscription. Upgrading unlocks the full service, including Spatial Audio tunes, lyric translations, auto-mixing, playlist creation, exclusive content, and more.

While those in countries and regions where Apple Music Select is not available may feel slighted, there is a catch. Apple users in those countries will no longer be able to sign up for standalone Apple TV and Apple Arcade subscriptions: they will be folded into iCloud+. Presumably, standalone Apple Music subscriptions will remain available at their full price for those who don't have iCloud+. But it's possible Apple could do the same with this service as with Apple TV and Apple Arcade and eventually roll it completely and exclusively into iCloud+.

These countries are essentially eliminating Apple One bundles in favor of iCloud+. The upgraded tier offers value just like Apple One, with inclusions that mirror what's included with Apple One right now. Having access to the limited Apple Music Select service for free, included with it, is nice, as is the option to add the full service for what will likely equate to just a few dollars more per month in every country. If you reside in one of these countries, however, you'll have to weigh the current cost of Apple One against the cost of iCloud+ with Apple Music Select or the add-on fee for full Apple Music if you want to keep it and see how they compare. Whether it's a better value or not won't matter anyway, though, since iCloud+ will be your only option. There's no word on if this switch will come to North America and European countries, too.