Apple was once considered the company who was at the forefront of the music industry. After slipping in recent years, today they’re playing catch up.

Apple released their music streaming service Apple Music on Tuesday morning, bringing the tech giant back into music relevancy. All potential customers can activate a 3-month free trial by upgrading to the newly-released iOS 8.4 which includes the new Music app.

Download iOS 8.4 by going to your Settings app then tapping “General,” then tapping “Software Update.”

If you’re not on iOS, Apple plans to release an app for Android in the fall. A new version of iTunes — expected to be released sometime today — will also allow you to use Apple Music on Macs and PCs.

After your free trial, Apple Music will cost $9.99 per month for a single account or $14.99 per month for a family account (which can hold up to 6 people). Compared to other streaming services, the family account is a great deal.

Apple Music marks the end of an era in which we paid for individual songs or albums. The future involves paying a monthly fee to have unlimited access to a (nearly) complete catalogue of music which you stream whenever you want.

Those of you who don’t use streaming services like Spotify may be confused as to what Apple Music is. Put simply, Apple Music lets you stream all music an unlimited number of times with no commercials. You pick what you want to listen to by searching via artist, album, song, etc, or by using features like Apple-created playlists and discovery tools. The new Music app on iOS also merges your library of purchased music with your streaming catalogue.

Apple will entice customers to sign up for their new app by offering exclusives. For example, Apple Music features an exclusive song from Pharrell titled “Freedom” at launch. They’re also unveiling a live and global radio station today called “Beats 1” hosted by DJs in Los Angeles, New York, and London.

For consumers, the concept of a streaming service is a great deal. Instead of paying around $10 per album, you’re paying $10 per month for an unlimited amount of music. If you’re someone who legally purchases all their music and makes at least one album purchase a month, streaming is going to save you a lot of money in the long run.

For artists, it’s a bad deal. Artists see very, very little money from streaming services like Spotify, TIDAL, and now Apple Music. With album sales sinking and streaming services growing, artists today rely on touring in order to make their money.

Apple Music may present one of the best streaming deals for consumers thanks to their family plan. If you and five other family members or friends pay for a family account together, each person will be paying $2.50 per month. That’s significantly cheaper than Spotify or TIDAL which offer individual accounts for $9.99 per person, per month. Notably, both Spotify and TIDAL offer student discounts while Apple Music has yet to make such an offer.

The three-month free trial makes Apple Music a no-brainer if you’re even remotely curious about streaming your music.

Critics will argue that services like Apple Music are actually a bad deal because you don’t own any of the music you’re listening to (except for the songs you’ve already purchased). Once you stop paying, you don’t have access to the music.

Where do you stand in the streaming music debate?

And will you give Apple Music a try?