Apple Music has discontinued its Voice Plan, which gave access to the streaming service exclusively via its Siri voice assistant
There have been various attempts over the years to launch mid-price streaming subscription packages, the aim being to hook in consumers who like to stream music but who won’t pay $10.99 a month for the privilege. Mid-price options either have a restricted catalogue or restricted functionality to distinguish them from the full premium packages.
Launched in 2021, Apple Music’s Voice Plan offered full access to the streaming service and all of its features for $4.99 a month. The snag was that it could only be controlled via Siri.
But no more. In a post on its support pages, Apple now states that "beginning in November, Apple will discontinue the Apple Music Voice Plan".
Why? Well, because "we are focused on delivering the best, most robust music experience possible for our customers, with features like immersive Spatial Audio, Apple Music Sing with real-time lyrics, intuitive browse and discovery features, and so much more". Oh, of course!
As Apple also notes, "all Apple Music plans already work seamlessly with Siri and we will continue to optimise this experience". So the option to access music via Siri is still very much available, but the option to access music half price is well and truly gone.