A:Answer No subscription is *required* to play music on an iPod. A couple of ways to do it without paying a monthly subscription:
1. Music you've bought on iTunes as aac files (like mp3s) from Apple, even before getting this iPod, would automatically download to the iPod once you connected it to the Internet and enabled the new iPod in your Apple account.
2. If you have mp3 or aac files on your PC or Mac, for example after ripping CDs to the computer, you can use iTunes to transfer copies to the iPod, and listen to those for free.
An *optional* subscription is available to Apple Music, and if you pay for that after a free trial, you can download music to your iPod and listen to it *as long as* you pay the subscription fee each month. A huge amount of music in all genres is available this way. Then you don't have to rip CDs or buy mp3s. BUT... if you stop paying the subscription, all music you were listening to as part of the subscription is removed from your iPod. The Apple Music subscription rates are $5 a month for a student, $10 a month for a non-student, or $12 a month for a family sharing one subscription and listening to different music on different devices. I prefer owning CDs and mp3s, but an Apple Music subscription is very convenient and worth considering. For some people, it's a better deal. You can combine both your own mp3 or aac files with an Apple Music subscription on the same iPod, if for example you have some favorite old CDs that are not available in Apple Music.
