Apple Music Discontinues $4.99 Voice Plan for Siri-Controlled Streaming Service

Discontinuation of the Siri-specific plan is part of a wider industry trend towards higher pricing and fewer low-cost options in music streaming services.

Apple has discontinued its $4.99 Voice Plan for Apple Music, which allowed users to access their music library through Siri across all devices, making the service's cheapest subscription now the Student Apple Music subscription for $5.99.
The discontinuation of the Voice Plan is part of a wider industry trend towards higher pricing and fewer low-cost options in music streaming services, labeled as 'streamflation', with companies like Netflix and YouTube also increasing their subscription prices recently.
The changes initiated to replace the Voice Plan will pave the way for new features like immersive Spatial Audio, Apple Music Sing, and other discovery features in Apple Music.
While no official reason was provided for the discontinuation of the Voice Plan, suggestions have been made that it may not have gained enough traction due to its restricted nature, which only allowed access through Siri and did not include features like real-time lyrics or the option to add songs to libraries or create custom playlists.
Existing subscribers of the Voice Plan will continue to use the plan until the end of their final billing cycle, with auto-renew having been turned off; thereafter, they can choose to switch to another Apple Music plan.