Apple Music does plenty right, but it's not for everybody

After this three-month trial is up, I won't be paying for Apple Music.

That's not to say there's anything particularly wrong with Apple Music. In fact, it does a lot of things right. The custom suggestions for playlists are strong — they are personalized based on the tracks I've spent years buying on iTunes. The service is easy to use — built as it is right into my iPhone — and makes it really easy to find new music. The custom radio station is fun to listen to — or at least it has been on the first afternoon.

But I, like many of you, am on a limited budget. Other factors in my decision: I don't drive. I work in a profession where communication is key — I can't be plugged into headphones all the time. I've spent a lot of time collecting my own music. I like owning things.

You may differ, and that's okay. If you think the services Apple has to offer sound appealing, you should pay for Apple Music. The company has clearly had the benefit of seeing what works and what doesn't in streaming music. And compared with rivals, it offers a service that's easier to use and a bit better at suggesting songs and integrating your own music into a music stream.

But personally, I pay for a lot of subscriptions. And they're adding up. If I'm going to pay for another one, it's going to be for something like Netflix, where I can catch up on movies and TV shows, not Apple Music.

For me, I'm getting by just fine on free options for music. And there are so many. These services appear to want customers so badly right now that they are basically giving you great music free (as long as you can bear hearing a few ads). In other words, it's a great time to be a consumer of music. And, it seems, it's a bad time to be trying to sell that music.

Two years ago, I tried paying for Spotify for a few months but found I really wasn't using it enough to justify even the cheapest tier, given all the free options out there. Now, when I want some music, I turn on Pandora (free) or Spotify, if I want to listen to something specific I compiled (also free).

The free parts of Apple's updated music app, even in the span of a few hours, are quickly becoming a great addition to those options. Now I can listen to my own music in a stream.

It's not that I won't pay for music. I still buy songs and albums. I also pay Apple for iTunes Match, which gives me online access to the songs I own that I didn't buy from Apple. Doing so means that those tracks are integrated into Apple Music's stream.

But to make Apple Music a huge financial success, Apple most likely has to win over some people like me. Many of the consumers who are willing to pay for music, particularly ad-free music, are probably already doing so with other companies. And it may be hard to get them to abandon their current subscriptions.

The problem that Apple — and the whole music industry — faces is that companies simply make less off a stream than they do off a download. Both make less than a CD. These trends aren't going the right way for profits.

Eventually, Apple may win over consumers like me. Music analyst Mark Mulligan has noted that Apple holds all the keys to making a really amazing comprehensive music service. For one, it has a truly enormous bank of credit card numbers collected from years of iTunes and App Store transactions — and paying for Apple Music appears to be nearly painless.

The company also has a huge number of devoted fans who are willing to try anything it puts out, even if the offering isn't perfect initially. Most important, Apple has the devices: You don't have to go to an online store and download Apple Music, and you don't have to sign up. It's just there on your phone.

Mulligan has said that these features could all come together in a really meaningful way. He's sketched out a scenario where you could be listening to Beats 1, hear a song you like, pause the broadcast and do some investigating into that artist. With Apple Music's focus on tapping expert knowledge from its editors and music publications, that could be really fruitful.