Apple Music vs. Spotify Buyer's Guide

[dominiongamma]

I love with Spotify, that I can control my music on my phone and play my PlayStation 5 at the same time. Easier then backing out every time of the menu to select a song

 

[gatorvet96]

This is a simple question. Spotify wins since it isn‘t tied to Apple. No matter what platform or device, I’m almost sure, Spotify will work. I have no worries and I’m not locked in, into Apples ecosystem - this is a huge benefit.

Same is also true for AppleTV. For Netflix, Prime, younameit , I just need a browser and i’m good to go.

Same is true for all Apple services. Try to listen to Apple Music or connect to iCloud storage on Linux, you will fail. Apple services on Windows were always a bad experience.


If Apple would follow the Microsoft approach to try to deliver the best experience on every platform, also Apple services would be welcome. But as long as Apples business model is to „lock customers in and lock competition out“, my advise is to ignore Apple services wherever and whenever you can.
Therefore I like to use Spotify on my iPhone and in my car and I know that if I‘m going to buy another brand tomorrow, I have no worries.

Simple fix. Don't use non-Apple devices. 😉

 

[hagar]

How Spotify Is Quietly Supporting the Military-Industrial Complex

Unbeknownst to most users, Spotify has a secret endeavor—backing the efforts of war.

inthesetimes.com

Thanks for the link. Doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. Every tech giant has (unfortunately) links to the military complex. If you want to avoid it, forget also about Microsoft, Google, Tesla, … And much of Apple’s tech comes from the US military.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Thanks for the link. Doesn’t seem out of the ordinary. Every tech giant has (unfortunately) links to the military complex. If you want to avoid it, forget also about Microsoft, Google, Tesla, … And much of Apple’s tech comes from the US military.

And Apple as mentioned in that article.

Someone who might be using an Apple piece of wearable technology might not know that the company has also contracted with the military to make wearable and stretchable electronics to be worn by soldiers.

 

[brofkand]

I am ecumenical so I prefer Spotify since it has greater availability on non-Apple devices (although that is slowly changing). I also like Spotify's playlists.

 

[Unami]

Ingot Apple music right now, because Spotify didn't really work with the homepods - and you still van't set an alarm with the free tune in radio without having apple music (pr with another song except from apple music - so, locknin is still strong).

But I'm still seriously reconsidering switching back to Spotify. Spotify's search is just so much better than Apple's, organisation is, while not great, still lightyears ahead. Sure, Apple music got better quality and seems to pay artist more. But still, the spotify experience is just more user-friendly.

 

[Mescagnus]

I've been listening to music less in the past couple of years after switching from Spotify to Apple Music. Spotify's recommendations helped me discover a lot of new music weekly.

Even though I don't like Spotify's attitude and stance about App Store's policies and rules – I think they are complaining for no valid reason – I will be switching back to Spotify because of their superior music discovery features.

With Apple Music, I feel like I've been missing on music – and this is coming from a lifelong Apple fan.

If Spotify pulls out of App Store in the EU and suggests I download a 3rd party app store to continue using Spotify, I'll switch back in a blink – maybe with some new music Spotify has helped me discover by then

 

[CharlesShaw]

Is MR being paid for conducting this (what appears to be) market research on behalf of Apple?

”Sorry to ruin your Monday morning, Deborah, but it’s your week to read the bickering forum member comments from one of the client’s hater sites.”

 

[dan110]

Like many Apple branded services, the user experience is terrible. Spotify and even Pandora offer better UX.

It seems like Apple is more focused on extracting your cash than providing a top notch app.

 

[MilaM]

Maybe that has changed in the meantime. But when my last Apple Music trial ended, all my playlists disappeard from the Music app. In Spotify, when I pause my subscription, I can at least browse my playlists and even listen to some songs, with ads of course.

 

[LeeW]

I have tried Apple Music several times; I want to like it, and it makes sense for me to use it, given all my Apple devices. But it's a terrible experience compared to Spotify. Daily and weekly recommended playlists based on my listening from Spotify are on point every time.

 

[MauiPa]

And the most important point not mentioned: Spotify pays artists unfairly and very little. So Spotify - a big nope, never, no way!

A funny aside. Spotify was so incensed when they couldn’t run natively on HomePod. Even sued. Then never wrote the code to run natively when it became available. Another nope

 

[Octothorpe]

Without a doubt, the #1 feature keeping me on Spotify is spotify connect.

I have several Alexa speakers and love the ability to control playback *without* giving up the audio connection on my phone. I can easily then use my phone to playback audio whatsapp messages, take an ad-hoc video with the camera, etc. because Alexa is connecting independently to Spotify and my phone is just a remote control, not a bluetooth or airplay broadcaster....

 

[Sundaypapers123]

Spotify is superior to Apple Music in almost every respect. It's smarter, quicker, more usable. The ONLY reason that I use Apple Music as my daily musical driver is the lossless/Dolby Atmos support. Spotify sounds like it's down a well when compared to Apple Music - especially on my wired Bose speakers. The moment Spotify upgrade their audio... I'm dropping Apple Music like a stone.

 

[wanha]

I'm a longtime user of both Spotify and Apple Music, but personally - and I may be in the minority on this - I prefer the interface on AM over that on Spotify.

I personally don't need recommendations, as I have knack for finding songs I like and I enjoy the process. Spotify's recommendations weren't that great for my music taste anyway, so it is of no concern to me but I get that it is for other people.

I also couldn't live without the smart folders in AM.

That said, I do have a few gripes about Apple Music:

- I wish Apple would add a search function to each artist's page to find a particular song of their I am looking for, because for artists with lots of songs, trying to find one particular song can take a while.

- The Mac app could definitely use some more work even though I don't really have any major problems with it.

For those on non-Apple platforms, Spotify is the obvious choice, but my choice is AM and it's an easy one.

 

[bluecoast]

On balance, I think that Apple Music is not as good as Siri.

They have really let the service just sit there. It's a shame given that 15 years ago, they were 'the' name in digital music services/stores i.e. iTunes.

I think with Apple Music, if your taste is very mainstream and you like genre radio stations with DJs - Apple Music is great.

But if you don't and have eclectic tastes, Apple's recommendation engine and curated playlists are simply not as good as Spotify's.

Spatial audio, I just don't get - I've rarely heard it on a track and thought that it was game changing.

And lossless is niche given that most people are listening to music on the street, metros etc. etc.

Spotify has its annoyances though:

No, I don't want to share my playlists or what I'm listening to.

No, stop pushing podcasts and audio books at me.

But finally - if you are living the Apple life, you'll probably just get it as part of an Apple One sub.

 

[damnhandy]

I use both, but Spotify still dominates. Spotify has several discovery options that simply work really well. Apple Music has amazing audio quality when you use spatial audio-compatible headphones like the AirPods Max or Pro. Listening to the same music on both Spotify and Apple Music, you can note the superior difference in quality with Apple Music.

What keeps me coming back to Spotify is discovery. Even simple things like this: you play a new track from a new artist on Spotify. When the track ends, Spotify will start playing related music once that song ends, as if it's a dynamic playlist. Apple Music will just stop playing or repeat the same track over and over again.

 

[Born Again]

I really wanted to like Apple Music. I tried several times.

The big plus that Apple Music has over Spotify is Spatial Audio if you have Sonos Dolby atmos at home.

Sounds amazing..

But Apple Music on a whole is a mess.

The curation sucks. I mean it’s almost non existing.

So now I am back on Spotify and using Amazon music for Dolby atmos.

 

[wanha]

Is MR being paid for conducting this (what appears to be) market research on behalf of Apple?

How do you know it's not paid for by Spotify?

 

[ignatius345]

Integration with existing iTunes libraries, allowing users to merge a personal music collection with the streaming library and upload and stream tracks that aren't in the ‌Apple Music‌ library

This is what tips it to Apple Music for me. I've got stuff I ripped from CD years ago that will never be on any of the streaming platforms because it's too niche or runs afoul of copyright. With Apple Music, it shows up on my phone without my having to manually sync it in from my computer like I used to do.

 

[ignatius345]

Just a warning: apple music also quietly loses tracks due to licenses. I lost a bunch of songs from my Playlist over the years, that I then had to source by other means to fill the gap.

So does Spotify. By letting you include tracks from your "personal library", Apple Music gives you a way to sidestep licensing issues if you rip or acquire the music yourself and put it on your local Music library.

 

[maszaikasza]

Spotify suits me better for a couple of reasons.
1. My stereo system has Spotify Connect support which works much much better than AirPlay.
2. I have two MacBooks - personal and for work, logged with my work Apple ID. I cannot share Apple Music subscription between these two devices.
3. Performance, especially of search function.
4. Overall user experience, Apple Music has that weird "Apple way" navigation buttons, gestures etc

 

[MilaM]

And the most important point not mentioned: Spotify pays artists unfairly and very little. So Spotify - a big nope, never, no way!

This is a popular claim, but after researching this topic a bit, I'm not sure this is objectively true.

Here is an article by Variety that tries to upack the question.

Another quote from a WSJ article: "Apple says it pays 52% of subscription revenue, or 52 cents of every dollar, to record labels. Spotify, which generates revenue both from subscriptions and its free ad-supported tier, says it pays ⅔ of every dollar."

Per stream numbers can be misleading, because it could be that AM customers on average listen to fewer songs. When you only have a fixed amount that can be distributed, the per stream royalty has to be higher. But I'm sure the actual calculations are much more complicated.

 

[Antoniosmalakia]

My friend and neighbour added me as a member to their Spotify family plan and I’ve used it quite a lot, and if I really like a song or album, I tend to buy it from the iTunes Store.

I have used Apple Music, but only trials. I mean, if they insist on giving away months at a time, I’ll take it.

 

[slomtbr]

Allow me…
Apple Music: "Integration with existing iTunes libraries, allowing forcing users to merge a personal music collection with the streaming library and upload and stream tracks that aren't in the ‌Apple Music‌ library"