Apple gives retail employees 9 month free Apple Music subscriptions

Later this month, Apple will be giving its retail employees a 9 month free subscription to Apple Music, in addition to the urBeats headphones the company earlier gave to its retail staff as a holiday gift.

iTunes chief Eddy Cue reportedly advised employees of the award this morning in a video message, according to report by MacRumors. Employees will be sent a redemption code later this month.

Apple has a total headcount of over 110,000 employees, 30,000 of which work in its U.S. retail stores, along with nearly as many who work in its international retail stores.

A 9 month subscription to Apple Music's "all access pass" service has a retail value of $90, and includes unlimited listening to all music in the Apple Music library, the ability to to download tracks to listen offline and expert music suggestions.

Without a paid subscription, Apple Music allows users to login with their Apple ID and access its live Beats 1 radio station, listen to its other radio stations with limited skipping, and to view and follow artists in iTune's Connect social media feed.

Apple Music supports playback on iOS devices, Apple Watch, Apple TV, iTunes from a Mac or PC, or Android devices running 4.3 Jelly Bean or newer.

In October, Apple's chief executive Tim Cook said Apple Music had attracted 6.5 million paid subscribers while another 8.5 million users were in an introductory, three month free trial period.

The company just announced over the weekend that it would be giving subscribers exclusive access to a new Taylor Swift concert video, as part of an ongoing promotion for Apple Music and the company's retail stores.