By
now you’ve probably heard of Apple Music, the all-new $10 a month
music-streaming service brought to you by the folks who invented iTunes
and the iPhone.
You
may have even downloaded the Apple Music app to your phone or your
computer. And now you’re probably wondering, Where the #%!&#! is it?
For a service as heavily hyped as this one, Apple has been doing a fantastic job of hiding it. Here’s where to look for it.
Find it online
First, of course, you have to get Apple Music. Don’t bother looking for it in the mobile App Store, you won’t find it there.
For
iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touch, Apple Music is part of an upgrade to
its mobile operating system: iOS 8.4. Download and install that, and
you’ll have Apple Music.
If
you’re longing to stream music directly to your Mac or PC, you need to
download a new version of iTunes—12.2, to be precise. (That desktop
update wasn’t available for many users until 8 or 9 hours after the
mobile version was released—causing all kinds of teeth-gnashing in Apple’s support forums, as well as among certain tech journalists who shall remain unnamed.)
There are two ways to get the desktop version. You can download iTunes 12.2 from the Web here, and then double click the file to update your current copy of iTunes.
On
the Mac, you can launch the App Store app and click Updates at the top
of the screen. At the next screen, click the Update button for iTunes
12.2. (If your Mac has more than one piece of software that needs
updating, you could instead click Update All at the top of the panel.)
Find it on your machine
Now that you have Apple Music, where the heck did it go?
On your iPhone, it’ll simply replace your old Music app (wherever you were keeping that).
Apple Music, hiding in plain sight on an iPhone 6.
Tap
that new icon, and you’ll have the option of signing up for Apple
Music. (The first three months are free, then Apple will bill you $10 a
month until you cancel). If you choose not to sign up, you’ll still have
access to any music you’ve stored on your phone or tablet, as well as
the ability to stream the free Beats 1 radio station and join Apple
Connect, the social media portion of the new streaming service.
On
the desktop, you simply need to launch iTunes. It should load with
Apple Music front and center, prompting you (again) to sign up for a
free three-month trial. Click Yes, and it will sync with the account on
your phone—so you won’t get billed twice—though it may quiz you about
your musical preferences again using those silly bubbles.
And that’s it. You’re now free to enjoy 30 million+ songs on your machines at any time—provided your data plan is up to the task.
