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Is there any point paying for iTunes Match if you have Apple Music? Doesn’t AM basically do the same thing, but for less?
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Apple Music vs. Spotify Compared
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iTunes Match was a great concept when it come out: let Apple sample your library. Songs it also had access to, it matched in the cloud. Any unique songs not in Apple's library could be uploaded to the cloud. The problem I faced was explicit and longer version tracks were constantly being replaced by the clean and radio version. Albums were being moved, my album art was being changed, etc.
iTunes Match beat me down so hard, it made me shift from a 'I need to own my music' to a streamer, to the extent that I have Google, Apple, and Spotify. My CD collection is basically sitting in storage, probably never to be seen again until my death.
The answer is maybe, but they are different services, solving different problems.
If you largely listen to commercial music that can be found on Apple Music, then any streaming service will probably be fine. If you listen to indie bands that are not usually found on streaming services, and have to buy their CDs, you can use either iTunes March ($25/year), Amazon Prime Music (free if you have an Amazon Prime), or Google Play Music (also largely free unless you have a massive library of unique songs).
You forgot the most important comparison. Performance.
Apple Music is still slow as hell in terms of buffering. I can hit next 50 times in Spotify and it won’t miss a beat. If I do that I’m Apple Music it locks up or spends 30 seconds buffering.
The user experience when you come back to Apple Music is also absolutely awful. I tried another trial a month ago and where they’d changed things since I tried it on opening day I could no longer set my artists, change the type of music I liked or do any kind of reset. The entire thing was massively broken to the point where I gave up and cancelled the trial again.
What made it worse is coming back to it all those annoying g iTunes bugs that have existed for years were still there. The massively flawed, and well documented shuffle/random system ignoring most of your library for example.
I wanna like Apple Music, but can’t do that until the Apple Music user experience isn’t utter crap.
Apple Music is still slow as hell in terms of buffering. I can hit next 50 times in Spotify and it won’t miss a beat. If I do that I’m Apple Music it locks up or spends 30 seconds buffering.
The user experience when you come back to Apple Music is also absolutely awful. I tried another trial a month ago and where they’d changed things since I tried it on opening day I could no longer set my artists, change the type of music I liked or do any kind of reset. The entire thing was massively broken to the point where I gave up and cancelled the trial again.
What made it worse is coming back to it all those annoying g iTunes bugs that have existed for years were still there. The massively flawed, and well documented shuffle/random system ignoring most of your library for example.
I wanna like Apple Music, but can’t do that until the Apple Music user experience isn’t utter crap.
Both of them rent you the entire catalog by the month, right? So where is the "building up" of a "collection"? It's all or nothing, isn't it?
Apple if it really LOVES music , would jump on the lossless bandwagon.
I disagree with the word audiophile used in the article.
Anyone who listens to lossless vs compressed can tell the difference if the volume is set at the same level.
Lossless music is “louder”.
With Apple Music I had to crank up the volume to 75 % , with Tidal HIFI , I am using 50%.
Even if you use the the AirPods or the Apple included EarPods, you will be able to tell the difference .
But if you don’t buy the AirPods or Beats and invest really good IEM , then the sound will be even more amazing!
The sparkle and soundstage will be a pleasant / surprising experience.
Comparison is like 3G / Edge voice call vs LTE / WiFi call !
I have given up Apple Music after using it for a year, UI was a mess, curation is never updated ?
Apple software updates to fix simple links error takes ages.
I just received a SMS message for a 1 month trial from Apple.
And I agree with the other forummers, my own ITunes music catalog was messed up after using Apple Music ...grrrrrrr.
I disagree with the word audiophile used in the article.
Anyone who listens to lossless vs compressed can tell the difference if the volume is set at the same level.
Lossless music is “louder”.
With Apple Music I had to crank up the volume to 75 % , with Tidal HIFI , I am using 50%.
Even if you use the the AirPods or the Apple included EarPods, you will be able to tell the difference .
But if you don’t buy the AirPods or Beats and invest really good IEM , then the sound will be even more amazing!
The sparkle and soundstage will be a pleasant / surprising experience.
Comparison is like 3G / Edge voice call vs LTE / WiFi call !
I have given up Apple Music after using it for a year, UI was a mess, curation is never updated ?
Apple software updates to fix simple links error takes ages.
I just received a SMS message for a 1 month trial from Apple.
And I agree with the other forummers, my own ITunes music catalog was messed up after using Apple Music ...grrrrrrr.
I like Beats 1 and they play a variety of new music - I like the shows from the Uk which tends to produce good new music/ raps not my thing either though
A long-time Spotify user, I have tried Apple Music twice (on launch and this winter) and could not find a good reason to switch. Cross-platform sharing with Spotify is super easy and half of my family plan crew are on Android, so common playlist populating is a breathe. Besides, streaming music is Spotify’s core business, for Apple it is just one of their side-projects.
Personally, I left Spotify for a bad reason. I just craved the integration. I still think that Spotify is the best Music streaming service of the two.
What I miss that Spotify had:
I miss Spotify but I am hoping Apple will keep trying to improve their catalogue with less trendy artists and sort out the mess that their interface is.
What I miss that Spotify had:
- The handover. I could play music on my phone, sit in front of my Mac and just continue the song where I'd left off.
- The interface is soooo much better. It was built for one purpose. iTunes is a mess.
- I miss some content which I could not find on Apple Music. Apple Music seems to be for aimed to the music of today. On Spotify I had access to artists like D.R.I. ...
- Discover Weekly. It kept giving me content from the country I'm living in. None of the music I had was in that language but each week, I'd get at least a couple of songs in the local language. It drove me up the wall.
- The family plan expects you are under the same roof (from what I understand, I might be wrong). Sadly, not all families can, for whatever reason. With the Apple ID family, I can have a family account which I can share with my family regardless of if they live at home or in another city.
- Take in account most families with kids will end up playing kids music in the car to keep the youngsters happy. There should be an option to say that the algorithm should ignore all music played from that list. Now all my recommendations are for Disney's Frozen or some other music that I don't care much for.
I miss Spotify but I am hoping Apple will keep trying to improve their catalogue with less trendy artists and sort out the mess that their interface is.
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I really enjoy AM’s curated playlists compared to the playlists I’ve tried on Spotify. AM’s have much more depth and range where I have found Spotify’s to be rather paint by numbers and generic.
Other than that, Apple Music is pretty ‘meh’. The UI is clunky and confusing at times. The ‘For You’ section just rotates albums and playlists that I have already listened to or recommends groups/genres I have disliked. It also gobbles up space on my phone & Mac and doesn’t provide an interface to clear the cache (unlike Spotify). I also wish it had an EQ.
Other than that, Apple Music is pretty ‘meh’. The UI is clunky and confusing at times. The ‘For You’ section just rotates albums and playlists that I have already listened to or recommends groups/genres I have disliked. It also gobbles up space on my phone & Mac and doesn’t provide an interface to clear the cache (unlike Spotify). I also wish it had an EQ.
This article misses the absolute most important point.
Apple Music actually pays artists.
I didn't pirate music back in the day and I have no intention of starting now. Spotify is garbage.
Apple Music actually pays artists.
I didn't pirate music back in the day and I have no intention of starting now. Spotify is garbage.
Surely you meant “rock” not “rap”
Calling rap a music is offensive to music.
Mythical muses must be spinning in their graves. They won over sirens but were pushed away by a bunch of rude and selfish blokes, whom confuse talking over 1 loop with a music making.
Is it rude of me to say? Probably, but that is one last cry of a freedom of speech and freedom of having an opinion.
I want to like Spotify simply because it's available on everyting. My Echo devices (Amason and Sonos), iPad, iPhone, Macs, Apple TV, Fire TV devices, built into my Samsung TV... Hell, I can hand off to my fridge and there's rumor that an app is actually coming for it.
But there are too many limitations for me to use Spotify. Their solution for uploading missing content is half-baked, their download limit is a joke, and their library limit is an even bigger joke. Why am I being limited to how many songs I can add to my library? Why am I being limited to the amount of songs I can download? I have a 256GB iPhone, let me downlaod what I want! I have a work-issued Note 9 with 384GB of total space (128GB internal+256GB microSD card), let me downlaod what I want! If Spotify didn't have the library and download caps, I might think about switching. I can deal with the 200 or so songs that aren't on the service (mainly Tool, some Mushroomhead, and compilations/soundtracks) with their (not a) solution but the library and download limits are killer. If Spotify were to lift them, I would likely be a lifetime customer.
Instead, they continue to give the statement of "it would only affect less than 1% of our users so we decide to make a great service for 99.9% of our customers instead of an OK service for 100% of customers." That's absolute bull crap. Why have Google, Amazon, and Apple been able to accomplish having large libraries (at least 50,000 songs) yet Spotify, the most successful music service, can't? I also don't buy their "less than 1%" quote. People have been asking for a larger library limit since Spotify was releeased and now that people have subscribed for years (10+), they will be hitting the limit if they already haven't.
Until then, I'll continue to use Apple Music.
No, they can't. The vast majority of music consumers cannot hear the difference between the source lossless file and high bitrate (or even lower bitrate, like 128kbps) lossy version in a volume-matched, blind ABX test. Portable listening environments aren't good for trying to pick out details in lossless music either, same with small network speakers like the Sonos One, Echo speakers, or Google Home speakers. Right now, lossless would be a waste of space and bandwidth that benefits an extreme minority, those that can pass a blind ABX test with their amplifier and open back headphones.
But there are too many limitations for me to use Spotify. Their solution for uploading missing content is half-baked, their download limit is a joke, and their library limit is an even bigger joke. Why am I being limited to how many songs I can add to my library? Why am I being limited to the amount of songs I can download? I have a 256GB iPhone, let me downlaod what I want! I have a work-issued Note 9 with 384GB of total space (128GB internal+256GB microSD card), let me downlaod what I want! If Spotify didn't have the library and download caps, I might think about switching. I can deal with the 200 or so songs that aren't on the service (mainly Tool, some Mushroomhead, and compilations/soundtracks) with their (not a) solution but the library and download limits are killer. If Spotify were to lift them, I would likely be a lifetime customer.
Instead, they continue to give the statement of "it would only affect less than 1% of our users so we decide to make a great service for 99.9% of our customers instead of an OK service for 100% of customers." That's absolute bull crap. Why have Google, Amazon, and Apple been able to accomplish having large libraries (at least 50,000 songs) yet Spotify, the most successful music service, can't? I also don't buy their "less than 1%" quote. People have been asking for a larger library limit since Spotify was releeased and now that people have subscribed for years (10+), they will be hitting the limit if they already haven't.
Until then, I'll continue to use Apple Music.
No, they can't. The vast majority of music consumers cannot hear the difference between the source lossless file and high bitrate (or even lower bitrate, like 128kbps) lossy version in a volume-matched, blind ABX test. Portable listening environments aren't good for trying to pick out details in lossless music either, same with small network speakers like the Sonos One, Echo speakers, or Google Home speakers. Right now, lossless would be a waste of space and bandwidth that benefits an extreme minority, those that can pass a blind ABX test with their amplifier and open back headphones.
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Many of Apple Music playlists are real gems and put a smile on my face, like Dave Brubeck Deep Cuts. On the other hand, some seem to have been assembled in a rush and abandoned, even despite having a note “Our editors update this playlist regularly,” only to see “Last Updated over two years ago.”
Although not promoted as heavily as on Spotify, I have found on Apple Music a number of user-created playlists on Apple Music. Elton John’s radio show, which you can listen to live, archived, or just the music, is also great. I like to listen to music selected by someone knowledgeable and who cares deeply about it.
Between the two, I noticed Apple Music updated the better playlists more frequently (sometimes once a week) which is great for downloaded playlists so I have new music to enjoy while flying. The Apple Music playlists often have descriptions of content or theme. I’m listening to “Classical AM” right now which truly is updated weekly and great way to start my mornings.
On iPhone, navigate to Settings > Apple Music > EQ. A hidden gem is “Late Night” which adds a look-ahead dynamic volume compressor for listening at lower volumes or in a noisy environment.
For our whole house audio system, we stream Apple Music through a SONOS Connect. It does not do any audio processing, so might as well be a CD changer. I added a rack mount Behringer SPL-3220 compressor/leveler/gate to even the volume out so we can listen to background music throughout the day.