Apple Music signs deal with EE to give customers free six month subscriptions

The deal will be available to new or existing customers from 1 September

Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue (L) high fives with recording artist Drake during the Apple Music introduction at the Apple WWDC on June 8, 2015 in San Francisco, California (Getty Images)

EE is going to give its customers free Apple Music subscriptions,

New or upgrading customers will be given free trial subscriptions to the service for six months.

Those who join the network or upgrade their existing deal with EE will be eligible for the offer, which is double the three months Apple itself already offers new users of the streaming service, which launched in 2015.

The offer will become available on September 1.

As part of the campaign to announce the deal, US superstar Britney Spears will appear in a new EE TV advert alongside regular spokesman Kevin Bacon.

EE chief executive Marc Allera said the deal was part of the company's plan to provide data-hungry customers with greater entertainment options.

"We're already pledging to bring 4G to 95% of the UK by 2020 and by the end of next year we will be north of 90%, which is great for that target," he said.

"What we're seeing from our customers is that they want more data and faster speeds.

"We also have a unique relationship with Apple and have worked with them on new innovations before - we were the first to offer the iPhone on 4G for example."

The Apple Music offer follows the announcement in July that EE was giving pay monthly customers free access to BT Sport for six months.

"This new deal is all part of our strategy - we're bringing it to life with entertainment," Mr Allera said.

"People love sport and they love music. We're bringing them together and we think they're two big winners."

Apple Music launched in July 2015 as a rival to other streaming services, such as Spotify, and has since gained more than 15 million paying subscribers globally.

Additional reporting by agencies