Last week, Verizon somewhat randomly announced a new, close partnership with Apple. Phase one of their alliance is pretty great if you’re a Verizon customer: you get six free months of Apple Music — so long as you’re on one of the carrier’s current postpaid unlimited data plans. Verizon didn’t share many details when the deal was first announced, but today it’s actually available to sign up for. The free half-year of Apple Music is open to current, new, and former subscribers of Apple’s premium music service.

To immediately begin your free six months, follow these steps:

• On the web: Visit vzw.com/applemusic
  On mobile: Open the My Verizon app, go to account, and then Add-ons. Up top (where it says Your Add-ons, Peace of Mind, and Essential Services), swipe left and you’ll see the Entertainment category. That’s where the Apple Music deal can be found.
• Choose the line you want to associate the free trial with — each unlimited line on your account can independently redeem the offer — and go through a few confirmation screens.

When you confirm the last one, Verizon will send you a text confirming the immediate start of your six-month trial.

That text will contain a link to applemusic.com/carrier. Open this on your phone. You’ll get bounced over to the Apple Music app, which automatically validates that you’ve signed up for the deal with Verizon. Tap “continue” on the screen below and you’ll be prompted to enter your iTunes / App Store password.

• That’s it! If you’re new to Apple Music (or rejoining), you’ll go through the onboarding process of choosing your favorite genres and artists.

Keep in mind:

You’ll start getting charged $9.99 per month once the six-month window runs out. Take note that, in a departure from the normal process, it seems you cannot cancel Apple Music through the app itself if you’re part of the Verizon deal. It doesn’t show up in your Apple ID’s subscriptions list. You’ve got to end the service through Verizon.

Apple Music is available on both iOS and Android. Just like Spotify, the service offers on-demand music playback and personalized playlists. But Apple Music will also automatically upload tracks from your PC’s iTunes library that might not be in its streaming catalog so you can listen to them anywhere.

What’s next from the Verizon and Apple partnership?

Earlier this week, Verizon announced that it will include a free Apple TV 4K with its 5G home broadband service when it commercially launches in early 5G markets.