In some areas, the free trial period for Apple Music has been reduced from three months to one month

For years, Apple has offered a free three-month trial to new consumers. But Cupertino has now slashed that to only one month in several countries, including as the United States (Canada), Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Several others, as well.

For now, the limited six-month trial period that comes with the purchase of select Apple products, such AirPods, HomePod mini, and a limited number of Beats products will remain in effect. The cost of a monthly subscription appears to be unaffected at this time. It’s still $9.99 per person for an individual Apple Music subscription ($4.99 for college students), and $14.99 per year for a family of five. For $4.99 a month, you can get restricted access to some of Apple Music’s repertoire via speech and Siri, but you won’t be able to listen to the music in any of its spatial or lossless forms.

Even if we don’t know the actual reason behind Apple’s decision to reduce the number of silent trials, it’s possible that the company is looking into ways to narrow the massive gap between Spotify and itself in the music streaming market share. Despite the fact that it seems counterintuitive, a more condensed generic trial period could allow Apple to experiment with additional, perhaps more enticing offers from third parties, bringing its free trial program closer to Spotify’s in terms of functionality. In addition to its ad-supported free tier, the latter offers a banket one-month free Premium trial for new customers. In some countries, such as the United States, Spotify offers a restricted two-month free trial, and if you pay for Premium using PayPal, you’ll get an additional three months for free. Until then, we’ll have to wait and see what Cupertino has to offer.