Apple Music or Spotify? what do you use and why?
Just wondering out here, cause Im really torn between these two. With Spotify family and Apple One I use both alternately and in both Im missing some parts that the other one have.
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for Apple Music I mostly lack good new songs suggestion algorithm, because it very often just plays me a song that I would never ever listen to - and that's based on "continue playing" from current playlist.
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for Spotify I lack Losseless and Spatialise.
in terms of UI, both are somewhat not great
- Apple Music is cumbersome and hard to navigate to song that is currently playing.
- Spotify is just too much noise on the screen for me
What are your thoughts?
Apple Music. The initial reason was that my own music was uploaded to be part of it. Along the way I've been using Spotify and many others. Today, I refuse to use Spotify. Why?
Apple Music, I listen to lots of unreleased music and iCloud Music Library works so much better than Spotify Local Files. Also just works with all my devices. I don’t love the UI sometimes but it is improving with every update. I don’t really use new music recommendations often but whenever I make a station I usually find it’s ok?
well, the UI is totally fine on iOS and iPadOS - but on the MacOS it's somewhat archaic for me and waaay behind
I agree. Feels a bit off.
Have you tried changing it up with spicetify at all?
Spotify Premium - because firstly don't care about paying for it as I use it literally every single day and after using it for nearly 10 years the algorithms are perfect when it comes to music recommendations - plus it has a better catalogue as I listen to some pretty obscure non-mainstream dance and jazz/funk music. As for the UI it's fine as I guess I am used to it. As for music sound quality - if I want music sound quality I will listen to my CD collection but for streaming via Bluetooth buds out and about with ANC it's a moot point really....
Same. It doesn't cost that much, for how much we (family) use it, it's worth the price.
I’m on Spotify, but I’d really love to switch to Apple Music for the better sound quality and to stop paying for dumb podcasts I don’t want. The one think keeping me on Spotify is connect. Apple doesn’t have anything comparable. I can be playing music on my Sonos and controlling it from my PC. I can seamlessly transfer what I’m listening from my iPhone to my car. It’s a huge quality of life feature.
and the problem with this is that Apple will never have this, because Spotify has patent on it and only Spotify will have such feature.
On the other hand, Spotify doesn’t play nice with the Apple ecosystem. HomePod integration is non-existent for example.
I use Spotify because it has everything I want in terms of music and I’ve used it forever but I’d really like decent HomePod integration at some point.
Unlikely but a man can dream right?
Airplay works that way, but unfortunately it’s only for Apple devices.
Airplay does not work that way. If I AirPlay to a speaker from my phone I can’t control the music from my MacBook, let alone my PC. I can’t AirPlay music from my MacBook to my phone or viceversa. It’s totally not comparable.
I’m shocked apple doesn’t have this. In fact their services across the board are sub par. Yet still my default because I feel stuck there with my old music library from pre streaming era full of songs that won’t be on streaming services, making Spotify no good for me
Tidal. Better audio quality and revenue share than Spotify, plus no Joe Rogan.
I didn't want to post it specifically unless someone else said it, but yes, Tidal. It has been great. Well working integration with Plex and Sonos, every song I've tried looking for they have, and they have a discount for military veterans.
Apple Music all the way!
Under the “Listen now” tab, I always get new releases form the artists I like!
YouTube Music. Apple Music and Spotify are both technically better products, but YouTube Music is free with YouTube Premium and so I can save on a music subscription.
Before I made that call I had picked Spotify as it gave me access to a web player, and just worked better on my Google Home speakers.
I went between Spotify and Apple Music a few times, both are better than YouTube Music. Though once YouTube premium became available in my country it was a no-brainer to switch. I was always going to get YT Premium and especially get a free music streaming service on the side.
Spotify because I’ve been on it since it was in beta, so my music recommendations are really good. I just don’t really feel like starting over.
I’m also grandfathered in with a deal where I get Hulu with it (Hulu has commercials but whatever, I don’t pay for it), so I don’t really feel like giving that up.
Apple Music because it doesn’t shove podcasts down my throat. I also prefer the algorithm on Apple Music over Spotify. Spotify is too safe by only recommending music that I already like, while I have discovered new genres that I now love from using Apple Music. Spotify is just too repetitive in my experience. I do miss the Discover Weekly playlist though. That was the one thing that helped me discover new music on Spotify.
I used to prefer Apple Music because the audio quality is higher.
But I've gone back to buying music on iTunes. I don't want to spend the rest of my life paying a subscription for music. I'd rather buy a new album every few months and keep it forever without DRM.
I'd be subscribed to Apple Music of it were available on more platforms. It's definitely my favourite music streaming service and I've tried A LOT.
What platform are you missing?
It's on Mac, iOS, Windows, Android, and there's even Web App to cover niche platforms like Linux.
It's not available for self hosted music streamers like Logitech Media Server or Mopidy so I can't use it around the house.
Apple Music because it’s fully functional/supported across all Apple devices. I have iPhones, iPads, Watches, MacBook, HomePods & Apple TVs. No need to screw around with trying to airplay Spotify to a HomePod when it’s just available natively with Apple Music. Apple Music can be integrated into “scenes” in the Home app. Apple Music can stream over cellular on an Apple Watch. I pay for Apple One Premier and share with 5 family members, FWIW.
I use Apple Music on GrapheneOS. Here in my country the other lossless streaming services are too damn expensive. Spotify is cheap but doesn't have lossless, and the privacy on Spotify is a nightmare. So that left Apple Music. Although I like the music quality, the rest of the experience is just kinda mid. The algorithm is okay, but the Android app sacrifices too much functionality for looks. Every single action takes one or two more clicks. Wanna heart a song? Hidden behind a menu. Repeat, shuffle? Hidden behind a menu. Sleep timer? ALSO hidden behind a menu. It really is too cumbersome.
Spotify:
pretty much all of this. i bought into a family plan of spotify premium back in maybe 2016 and haven't looked back.
audio quality is fantastic. arguably only tidal has a higher bitrate for their premium plans, but it's so negligible unless you're really deep into audiophile territory. discover weekly is actually really good if you carefully curate your playlists and has led me to many new artists. while i don't have personal experience with other platforms underground music, spotify has a shockingly large number of small time artists that i absolutely love.
The Discover Weekly playlist is far from perfect – it would often give me the same songs again and again or multiple covers of single song. But still, good enough for everyday use. And I like for alternative/indie/niche music too, so Spotify Discover Weekly is much better than most audio stations or existing playlists.
Yeah, it's definitely not perfect, but years of crafting my existing playlists has led to a pretty solid foundation for discovery to work with. I'll get something I've heard before maybe once a month these days, but this is after basically 7 years of listening almost weekly.
Qobuz, for audio quality.
This is the way!
first time I see Qobuz mentioned. how's the library in it? and songs suggestions?
Library's very good. It has every song from the major labels and a very decent library of independant artists.
Song suggestions are... fine ? I mean, it will suggest songs from a broader spectre. It's very cool for somebody who likes to discover new genres that kinda relates to what you are listening to.
But if your aim is to have the most similar music to what you are listening, and also have a very closed suggestion list based on spotify and youtube-like algorithms, then qobuz won't give it to you.
To me, I'd rather have a wider gamut of suggestions than always the same songs going round. So qobuz all the way.
The fact Qobuz has a download store is great, though I've heard they've stopped people from downloading from the website, forcing you to use the app. Not so great.
Spotify with a family deal. Recommendations and daily playlists make the difference
I use Spotify.
I used to go back and forth a lot but I think I'm sticking with spotify.
I like the design of Apple Music but their recommendations suck.
I find most of my new music by using a button on spotify that's called enhanced shuffle or something. but you click it on a playlist and it will insert random recommendations that you can easily add to the playlist if you like it.
i love it cause it just mixes it in with your regular music so you can really tell if it flows nicely in that playlist or if it kills the vibe a little.
Apple Music because I live in the Apple ecosystem and have been in iTunes since the beginning. I tried out Spotify with each redesign. I did not like their interfaces at all. The only thing I found that is better in Spotify (for my needs) is they have way better and more user-generated playlists. That's one thing I miss in Apple Music, but there are apps that will allow you to copy a playlist across services.
Apple Music because I get it through Apple Family, which includes iCloud storage and Apple TV+.
Apple Music because it's part of my Apple One subscription. I'd use it over Spotify regardless.
I only pay for one other music related subscription...SiriusXM
I have both and like Spotify better. It‘s WAY easier to navigate. It‘s also possible to listen/resume on several devices (eg. switch from iPhone to Mac to Alexa to TV etc.) without interrupting or restarting the playlist.
Kind of in the same boat right now. I'm using Apple Music right now for the following:
Though it's not perfect...
I use both but overall prefer Apple.
It is very nice to just open my Library tab by default without any pop ups or ads/suggestions/promotional anything.
Also prefer the way Apple implements the way you go back to the main album/list.
Using Spotify Premium, and thanks to it I discovered a lot of great artists (just recently Yosi Horikawa) Once I switch to iPhone, I might give Apple Music a try.
Spotify because the duo subscription.
Spotify since I use ios and android. I also prefer there algorithm more and integrations (discord, samsung watch, etc).
musi cause I'm broke, but if I wasn't I'd use spotify
Spotify just because I've been using it almost since it came out and especially because Apple Music is absolute chaos for scrobbling to last.fm
last.fm! That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.
There are dozens of us still using it! I don't quite get how they haven't shut down yet but I'm not complaining, I get to have a music listening history database across streaming platforms and mediums, just for that feature I find it so incredibly useful.
Maybe I should dust off my account.
Same with ListenBrainz. I actually coded a manual scrobbling plugin for MusicBrainz Picard to handle things like this. Should get that through to the MusicBrainz guys.
For last.fm there are apps on Mac that do the job, on Windows with the AM Preview I found AMWin-RP which is mainly a Discord rich presence handler but also does last.fm too.
Currently Spotify. Would like to change to stop supporting them (they don’t prioritize development in Apple ecosystem, e.g. HomePod support, audio quality could improve, supporting of podcasters I wish to not support, etc.), BUT my other half enjoys Dax Shepard’s podcast too much.
Fuck you, Dax, for going exclusive on the same platform as Joe Rogan.
Damn I didn’t realize he went exclusive to Spotify. I listen to his podcast but very much on my own time and have like 50+ episodes in my queue I want to listen to someday so didn’t notice.
I tend to really only stay up to date with Conan, Smartless and sports pods
I've used both Spotify premium (for 3 years) then switched to Apple Music to try it, keep it for a couple of months, back to Spotify premium, then finally back to Apple Music. In my opinion Spotify has better suggestions, but it may be because I used it for longer, but I hate the app and if your privacy conscious it's a nightmare. Apple Music has a superior audio quality in the base plan, if you are on an Apple system it's worth the price for its integration and at least your not selling your data to others as much as spotify. I think both web interfaces works really well anyway, if you don't like the apps
I like Apple Music. I don’t listen to a lot of music, and it just works for me. I have several HomePod minis and it just works. Also, being able to ask Siri to play something while I’m in the car is very important to me.
For me, the dealbreaker with Apple Music is that they nuke your library a few months after you canceled your subscription. I tried it back in the day when it was new and used it happily for some time, but the difficulty of finding new tracks that I like drove me back to Spotify. I then wanted to give AM another try recently, only to find out that my old library was empty. I immediately canceled the AM trial after that…
Also I found that Spotify has a greater pool of niche stuff that I listen to.
The other reasons why I prefer Spotify have already been mentioned:
Apple Music. I have a very large library and am an album listener. AM is much better at library organization for me.
Using Spotify Family and the pricing is fair. I love the Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists. The auto-generated Made for are pretty good too. I absolutely HATE the Apple Watch app. It’s buggy as hell. Whoever is managing that project should be fired. @prwnr
I use Apple Music. I don't mind the app menus and have a fairly good grasp on where everything is now. The real draws are Apple Music Classic's new app, spatial surround sound and lossless audio. In addition, it comes with my Apple One subscription and makes it that much of a better deal.
There is one nit feature that is making me hold on to Spotify — sync “Now Playing” queue among devices. Also its extension, control music playback of a device from another device.
These are features that I use day to day, and in the 3 months I used Apple Music, I was reminded of its absence every time.
The discovery algorithm used by Spotify is also better but the aforementioned features inhibit Apple Music’s UX enough to make me not use it.
I use Apple One family premier:
https://www.apple.com/apple-one/
Having lots of iCloud storage is handy, and I use the other services.
Also, unless things have changed, Apple pays artists more than Spotify.
Apple Music, but not for any reason. Just because I use Apple devices and I’ve never given it any thought.
As others have mentioned, I’ve not had an issue with the Apple recommendations, especially when it comes to “stations” - I think it does a good job of recommending similar artists, and I like it (but I’ve not used Spotify so don’t know if they’re better at it, or what better might look like).
Just a reminder, Apple’s Lossless tech doesn’t work over Bluetooth (that’s a Bluetooth limitation not an Apple limitation) so if for example your regular speakers are connected via Bluetooth then Apple’s Lossless isn’t a good reason to move services since you won’t experience it most the time anyway.
I would factor your primary device into your choice. I mostly control music via my iPhone, and the iOS music app is fine for that. Apple Music is… not ideal… on Mac, and if I used that as my primary controller I suspect I’d shop around for a better service. As an example of two baffling things that irritate me:
My partner and I may be the only people on earth using Tidal, but I love it!
The main benefit is that it pays artists like double what the next highest per-stream rate is (I think that’s Apple Music).
The Tidal app is basically Spotify but without podcasts shoved in your eyes. It has personal mixes, daily discovery, new music you might enjoy, etc. All that useful discovery stuff.
VLC and Spotify.
I'm poor, and prefer going with a free service, it's just as good as the radio.
VLC I've found to be less clunky than the iTunes/Apple Music sync pipeline, and when I had my older iPad, it was a convenient media hub for things that might not be natively supported by iOS' default player.
Spotify Premium.
Spotify Connect alone is worth the choice between the two services, in my opinion.
Besides, Spotify doesn’t require you to update your OS in order to update the app.
Spotify Connect is the “killer app” for me as I have a couple of amplifiers with the inbuilt connect client. That being said I use plex-amp to listen to all of my ripped CDs (being collecting since buying Brothers in Arms as my first CD when it was originally released), which is Spotify like for music on the go, and it’s loss-less (then I use Bluetooth headphones :-( )
I use Spotify simply because my FiL had an extra spot on the family plan. If that weren't the case, I'd probably be trying one of the Apple bundles. I'm actually quite happy with Spotify, but I'm curious what Apple Music's native integration would feel like.
ViMusic lol
I used Spotify before but canceled the premium subscription as it became expensive. I'm now listening to Deezer's free tier.
I’m a producer and have a slightly different relationship with these platforms than the average consumer.
Apple Music SUCKS promoting my music and gets way less listeners than Spotify by a lot. The comparison is not even close.
The lack of reach with Apple Music when I go look at my metrics compared to Spotify is really sad. So for that reason alone I choose Spotify over all of the other platforms.
I’m mostly on Spotify but there is at least one radio show (Beats In Space) that I use Apple Music for since it’s exclusive to that platform. I do like listening to mixes by some of the artists/label that I love as they offer the track list as well.