If like many, you’ve spent years accumulating your Apple Music collection, you’ll know how it becomes your pride and joy — not something you want to discard! Unfortunately, you might lose your music files if you unsubscribe from Apple Music. What do you do if you want to cancel Apple Music, but still want to keep your beloved songs and playlists?
This is a relatable situation for many. As much as you might love the songs you’ve listened to and downloaded, you may want to cancel your Apple Music to save money, avoid the app’s ads, or simply try something new.
In this situation, you might be apprehensive about what happens to your songs and media if you unsubscribe. Can you still listen to downloaded Apple Music without a subscription? What happens to your downloaded music when you cancel Apple Music?
Can you listen to downloaded Apple music without a subscription?
In short, the answer is no, you can’t listen to downloaded Apple Music unless you have a subscription.
According to Apple Support, if you cancel Apple Music, you will no longer be able to listen to any previously downloaded media content once the subscription period ends. That means you lose access to all your music and playlists.
What happens to your downloaded music when you cancel Apple Music?
You might be thinking that because your music is downloaded to your device it’s safe from deletion. However, Apple Music is encrypted, which restricts you from listening to Apple Music songs after cancelling the subscription even if they’re downloaded.
Without a subscription, media content is automatically deleted from your local folder, so you can no longer listen to Apple Music offline from your device.
Can you use Apple Music without a subscription?
Without a subscription, you can still access song previews on Apple Music and browse their offering of genres, playlists and chart hits. But you can’t listen to any songs in full, create playlists or download music.
Is there a way to still listen to downloaded Apple music without a subscription?
Does all this mean you’re stuck using Apple Music indefinitely if you don’t want to lose your songs?
Luckily, that’s not the case. There are platforms that provide workarounds so you can still listen to your downloaded Apple Music songs without a subscription. Here are a couple of options.
UkeySoft
UkeySoft Apple Music Converter decrypts your downloaded Apple Music songs so that you can still listen to them without an Apple Music subscription. It can also convert Apple Music M4P song files to MP3 and other widely-used formats while keeping the song data preserved.
This means you can listen to your Apple Music downloads on any device without a subscription, and you’ll have them saved for as long as you need.
NoteBurner
NoteBurner’s Apple Music Converter saves your Apple Music library offline so that you don’t lose your music downloads, even if you unsubscribe.
It works by recording your Apple Music songs, with 100% of the quality preserved, which can then be converted to a variety of formats, including MP3, AAC, FLAC and more. All your music metadata, like song and artist names, will be preserved during the conversion.
Be aware that the free version of NoteBurner only converts the first 3 minutes of your file. To avoid the time limitation, you can download a paid version:
- Monthly Plan: $14.95 USD (£15.95 GBP/€17.73 EUR)
- 1-Year Plan: $59.95 USD (£60.95 GBP/€70.09 EUR)
- Lifetime Plan: $129.90 USD (£132.90 GBP/€151.01 EUR)
Alternatives to Apple Music
If you’re cancelling your Apple Music subscription, you may be considering what other music streaming platforms are out there that you could switch to.
To help you decide, here are some of the most popular music streaming apps.
Spotify
As one of the market-leading audio streaming apps, you can listen to your favourite artists and songs, create your own playlists and listen to curated playlist recommendations through Spotify.
Recently, the platform has put more emphasis on podcasts, securing a hefty deal with famous podcaster, Joe Rogan. So, whether you’re interested in deep-dive interviews, news, sports, culture or true crime, there’s a whole catalogue of podcasts available on Spotify for you to choose from too.
A free version of Spotify is available, although it comes with ads. Alternatively, you can pay for ad-free Spotify Premium, starting at £9.99 GBP ($12.20 USD/€11.30 EUR) per month, or £5.99 GBP ($7.30 USD/€6.80 EUR) per month for students.
SoundCloud
SoundCloud allows you to listen to your favourite artists and songs and create playlists. It recommends you new music based on your listening history and what’s new on the platform. It boasts having the most diverse creator community, with an algorithm more inclined to put upcoming artists in the spolight than other options. If you like to stay hot on fresh songs and breaking artists, SoundCloud could be the option for you.
SoundCloud has a free plan allowing you to listen to tens of millions of tracks, although it does come with ads. Some music is only available as a preview with the free plan, so you’ll have to upgrade to SoundCloud Go at £9.99 GBP ($12.20 USD/€11.30 EUR) per month to access the full catalogue.
YouTube Music
Do you find you’re often opening YouTube to listen to music, but the problem is you can’t close your screen as without the video it turns the music off? YouTube Music offers an answer to this problem. With YouTube Music, you can listen to new music, mixes, playlists, YouTube radio stations and even live performances, all from the app and without video (if you have the paid plan). It also has a Trending section, so you’re updated on the next big hits.
YouTube Music is free, or you can pay for the paid plan at £9.99 GBP ($12.20 USD/€11.30 EUR) per month to listen screen- and ad-free.
Managing your music streaming subscriptions
Whatever music streaming platform you’re subscribed to, it’s important to keep track of your spending and when your renewal dates are. You don’t want to be spending money on a subscription you no longer need!
Learn more about tracking your spending with Subscription Panda — the easiest way to track all your subscriptions in one place.