Apple Raises Music and One Prices as Licensing Costs Climb

Apple has raised prices across its Apple Music and Apple One subscription services, citing rising licensing costs in the first price increase for the music streaming platform since October 2022. The changes, which took effect on July 17, affect millions of subscribers in the United States and other countries worldwide.

Individual Apple Music plans rose by $1 to $11.99 per month, while the family plan jumped $3 to $19.99 per month and the student plan increased $1 to $6.99 per month, as reported by Fox Business. The Apple One bundle also saw increases, with the family tier rising $2 to $27.95 per month and the Premier package climbing $2 to $39.95 per month. The individual Apple One tier remained unchanged at $19.95.

The Regulatory Driver Behind the Increase

Apple’s stated reason — “rising licensing costs” — traces directly to a federal royalty rate set by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). Under a determination covering 2023 through 2027, the mechanical royalty rate that on-demand streaming services pay songwriters and publishers rises on a fixed schedule each January 1, according to BudgyApp.

The rate opened at 15.1% of U.S. revenue in 2023, stepped up to 15.2% in 2024, reached 15.25% in 2025, and climbed to 15.3% on January 1, 2026 — the same year Apple has now raised its prices. It is scheduled to hit its contracted ceiling of 15.35% on January 1, 2027.

This schedule was jointly proposed on August 31, 2022, by the National Music Publishers’ Association, the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and the Digital Media Association — the trade group representing Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and other streaming services. The CRB accepted the settlement that December.

“Songwriters will enjoy the highest rates in the world and the highest rates in the history of digital streaming,” David Israelite, president and CEO of the NMPA, said at the time.

Competitive Landscape

Despite the increases, Apple Music remains priced below its chief rival. Spotify raised its Premium individual plan to $12.99 per month earlier this year, as 9to5Mac reported, meaning Apple Music’s new $11.99 rate still undercuts Spotify by $1. Amazon Music Unlimited costs $11 per month for Prime members and $12.99 for non-Prime subscribers, while Pandora remains at $10.99 for its individual plan.

The streaming industry has been steadily moving away from the long-standing $9.99 per month benchmark. Apple Music itself followed a trajectory from $9.99 to $10.99 in October 2022, and now to $11.99. Spotify followed a similar path, rising from $9.99 to $11.99 in 2023 and then to $12.99 in 2026.

Apple’s Broader Pricing Strategy

The subscription price hikes are part of a wider pattern of increases across Apple’s product and service lineup. In June 2026, Apple raised prices on iPad and MacBook models, citing surging memory chip costs. The company said at the time that it had “never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly” and that it had “shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products,” as Variety reported.

Apple TV+ saw a price increase from $9.99 to $12.99 in August 2025, following earlier adjustments to Apple TV+, Arcade, and News+ in October 2023. Internationally, iCloud+ prices increased in eight countries in July 2026, and iPhone prices were adjusted in Japan — though U.S. prices for those products remained unchanged.

What This Means for Subscribers

Existing subscribers will maintain their current pricing until their next billing cycle, after which they will renew at the new rates. The increases apply to consumers in the U.S. and other countries where Apple Music is available.

Apple’s most recent earnings report showed $111.2 billion in total revenue and $29.6 billion in net profit, with record-breaking Services revenue of $31 billion. The company did not announce the price changes through a formal press release but instead updated pricing on its website, confirming the move to 9to5Mac in a statement.

What to Watch For

The CRB rate schedule still has one mandated step remaining — reaching 15.35% on January 1, 2027. Apple has not indicated whether another price increase will follow, but the regulatory framework underpinning the current hike remains on a fixed trajectory. Additionally, Apple’s separate, private licensing deals with the three major record labels renew on undisclosed cycles, introducing further potential cost pressures.

For consumers, the question is whether subscription fatigue will set in as Apple raises prices across hardware, services, and cloud storage within a compressed timeframe — and whether the company’s bundle strategy through Apple One will prove effective at retaining subscribers who might otherwise cancel individual services.