I used to be able to listen to Itunes radio but now it's asking me to sign up for a membership. With free programs like Pandora, do we really have to pay for Itunes radio to listen to music?
iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 9.2.1
Yes. The future of music is renting tracks and not owning music. This means no DRM and backing up files. You can also stream music over wifi and while on the go with an iPhone. Pandora is not free. Pandora uses your data plan either with your ISP or your mobile carrier.
iTunes Radio is now part of iTunes Music. Yes, you have to pay for it. The Beats 1 station is still free.
Pandora is not really free (though not for the reason the above poster gives). You either have to listen to ads or pay for the ad-free version. Apple has simply opted not to offer an ad-supported version.
mac@user35 wrote:
Pandora is not free. Pandora uses your data plan either with your ISP or your mobile carrier.
The fact that Pandora uses your data is not really relevant to the cost of Pandora itself. iTunes Radio even when you didn't pay Apple for it, used your data. Pandora can be streamed over public Wifi hotspots, your home WiFi, your neighbor's Wifi, your cellular data, etc. Some of those cost, some don't. In fact, some TMobile plans in the U.S. let you stream Pandora over cellular data but it doesn't count toward your allowance. However, you'll still need to listen to the ads or pay for the ad-free version.
OK thanks. Pandora to me is "free" just like Itunes radio used to be. I don't mind listening to the ads and listening to the makes it so I don't have to pay anything which means...it's free. Regardless of cellular data or any of that stuff, I do not have to pay anything extra to listen to Pandora and never did with Itunes either. But thank you, you all answered my question. And I'll go back to listening to pandora again. Thanks
I just spoke with Apple Support. The woman I spoke with was very professional & courteous & listened to what I had to say but alas, we now have to pay $10.00 per month to listen to Apple radio and I think that's really crummy.
They will lose this customer at the iTunes store where we've been buying most of our music.
Too bad.
Unfortunately yes. I'm not sure what Apple is thinking but definitely it doesn't seem to be a smart move since there are so many other really great ways to listen to radio.
Do you have to pay for Itunes radio now?
