Apple raised Apple Music prices in Malaysia this week. It’s the second hike since 2022, and it’s part of a global increase Apple confirmed on 17 July, the first change to Apple Music pricing in nearly four years.
The New Numbers
Individual goes from RM16.90 to RM17.90 a month. Family climbs from RM25.90 to RM27.90. Student jumps from RM8.90 to RM9.50.
Small increases individually, RM1 here, RM2 there, but the same shape as the October 2022 round, when Individual went from RM14.90 to RM16.90 and Family from RM22.90 to RM25.90.
Apple’s reason, both times, is rising music licensing costs. Told to Music Business Worldwide directly: the price is going up because of what labels are charging Apple to license their catalogues. It’s the same line the company used in 2022, when it framed the hike as more money flowing to artists and songwriters.
Apple One Didn’t Move, Yet
Apple raised Apple One prices in the US, Family and Premier both went up two dollars, but Malaysia’s Apple One pricing hasn’t touched. Individual sits at RM34.90, Family at RM44.90, Premier at RM84.90, same as 2023.
That’s not a guarantee it stays that way. Apple has a habit of rolling price changes out unevenly across markets, sometimes months apart, so a Malaysia-specific Apple One bump isn’t off the table. For now, bundling is just a slightly better deal than it was last week.
Nobody’s Shocked
The timing lines up conveniently with expensive sports and content licensing deals Apple’s been signing, which tracks with what labels have been arguing publicly, that streaming has been underpriced against video services like Netflix for years.
Even after this increase, Apple Music in the US sits a dollar below Spotify’s Individual plan, which raised its own US pricing earlier this year and has been doing the same across other markets on a rolling basis.
