Un-ticked, turned off, removed from widgets, rebooted, etc. etc. etc. and it still keeps coming back. Is it because I have a subscription to a competing service? iPad Pro with AirPods and headset. It started after updating to 14.2.

None of the solutions provided here actually work. They may seem to work, but the player keeps coming back. A bit of a work-around, but it seems to work here: keep your headset turned off and your AirPods boxed until *after* you turn on your iPhone/iPad. Someone at Apple must have had a bad night and assumed that any time you use your headset/AirPods, you want to play music using the Apple player. I have no suggestions turned on, no notifications, no nothing. The player app doesn't show when no bluetooth audio devices are connected, but does always appear on the lock screen when a bluetooth audio device is connecting when I open the iPad. On my iPhone, the music app isn't even included in the list of 'included controls', but always shown. It's not a feature, it's a total nuisance.