Apple sends out iOS, email reminders urging users to renew Apple Music

Apple on Tuesday began sending out messages to Apple Music listeners, pressuring them to renew their subscriptions in advance of the first three-month trials expiring at the end of September.

An email reminder asks people to turn on automatic renewal before tomorrow, Sept. 30, to keep their subscriptions active. The company is also sending out notifications via the iOS Music app, urging people to "renew now." Typically, the Music app doesn't generate any notifications.

Once an Apple Music subscription is started, it will renew automatically unless a person intentionally opts out of it. The cancellation option can be difficult to find, since within both iTunes and the iOS Music app, people have to first visit their account profile and then hunt down a link for managing subscription settings.

People who allow a subscription to continue will be billed $10 U.S. per month for an individual plan, or $15 per month for a six-user family bundle.

This week is a critical period for Apple Music, since while it's believed to have at least 11 million subscribers, some or many of them could be planning to ditch the service when faced with actually paying for it. Apple's main rival in the streaming space, Spotify, has over 75 million subscribers, and users don't need to pay unless they want Premium benefits like ad-free listening.