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Why would I want to make big corporations even bigger? I’d never use Apple Music. Apple already gets enough money from me.
So I’m a happy Spotify user.

Apparently Apple pays more in royalties to artists, labels, etc. than Spotify. This is one good reason.
 
Spotify is way better than Apple Music, with Apple Music I don’t know what’s my music, what’s downloaded is totally confused. The only thing Apple Music has is individual song download, I don’t know anyone that listens to whole albums I certainly don’t, I want to download a song by song and build playlists
Huh??
1. There’s literally a section called “Downloaded Music” in your library.
2. You touch the + sign (addition symbol) to add the song to your library.
3. You touch the icon of a cloud with a down arrow to download the song.
It’s pretty self-explanatory.
Both of those symbols disappear when the song has been added and downloaded.
 
I use both and these are my observations:

1) Apple Music sounds louder/richer at the same volume;
2) I prefer AM interface (bigger text, so easier to see in bright light and in the move);
3) The in-built lyrics of AM are nice to have;
4) Adding a song to a playlist in Spotify is super easy by just tapping on a ... next to it, in AM you actually need to play it first, as tapping on + will automatically add it to the library;
5) Asking Siri to play a particular track is another plus for AM;
6) Spotify has a good web-player, often a must for people at work, AM does not;
7) AM allows us to easily add any audio tracks from other sources (via iTunes), so they all stay in one app. This process is a bit trickier in Spotify.

Other than that, yep, both are pretty similar and play music. :)
 
I use both and these are my observations:

1) Apple Music sounds louder/richer at the same volume;
2) I prefer AM interface (bigger text, so easier to see in bright light and in the move);
3) The in-built lyrics of AM are nice to have;
4) Adding a song to a playlist in Spotify is super easy by just tapping on a ... next to it, in AM you actually need to play it first, as tapping on + will automatically add it to the library;
5) Asking Siri to play a particular track is another plus for AM;
6) Spotify has a good web-player, often a must for people at work, AM does not;
7) AM allows us to easily add any audio tracks from other sources (via iTunes), so they all stay in one app. This process is a bit trickier in Spotify.

Other than that, yep, both are pretty similar and play music. :)
In AM, You can 3D Touch or long press (without playing first) on the song to bring up another menu for “Add to a playlist”.
 
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hmmm. never heard of the "downloaded", "my library", or "Apple Music" selectors. You could try them and all your complaints would be solved.
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works great for me, wonder what you are doing and the specifics of your "test".
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"get their act together". that's a technical term for having more paying subscribers in US than spotify? As most of my friends are on Apple Music, I guess, I sure hope that Spotify gets its act together soon.

Isn't it just as simple as saying people will have a preference of one over the other and it may be as simple as what they started using first? Enough of the empty, factless compares . I have used both, I prefer Apple Music because the interface is cleaner and more consistent with Apple Apps in general, no other reason.
Yes, the Apple Music interface is more Apple-like. Of course. But the lack of a dark mode really hurts the overall mood/experience of using the app. And the discoverability features for new music, and the music genome IQ in general, are considerably better on Spotify. I’m an AM user, have subscribed to Spotify before, and it’s not even close.
 
I don’t know how people can claim one service is “way better” or “vastly superior” to another. Both Spotify and Apple Music are pretty comparable with each having a few advantages over the other.
There are several reasons (in my opinion) for Spotify being superior to Apple Music.

Apple Music Android app has no gapless playback option, which is a serious omission where tracks flow into one another. Think of albums like Dark Side of the Moon.

With phone in landscape position, the Apple Music display does not rotate. All the music apps I have used do this. When using phone on gym equipment landscape.

Cannot swipe left or right over album artwork area to change track. Have to precisely tap transport controls. Not particularly easy when exercising?

Most serious problem is that during my 6 month trial of Apple Music, I never got personalised play lists of music I liked. Spotify is excellent for this as it compiles personalised play lists using music that others who listen ones style if music also listen to. Discovery of new music is a major use of streaming for me.
 
Spotify is the best service yet. The collaboration playlists and releases radar are great.

I post in these “Spotify” news threads each and every time to post the same thing.

People using Apple Music over Spotify are really, truly missing out on some great new music discovery. Nothing Apple has touches their “Discover Weekly” and “Release Radar” playlists. Their algorithms are off the chain and the user experience is just so much better.
[doublepost=1556562906][/doublepost]
Apple needs to get their act together with music, fast. Most people I know have Spotify regular or premium. And as a result, it makes it very hard for me to share music and playlists with people I care about.

This is an example of where market share is very important, as it effects the value and usability of the product.

Their act together?

The Apple Music product you see now is the final product. Lazy, unintuitive, clunky and unpleasant to use.

To me, Apple Music is one of the largest failures. But it’s proved Apple’s theory — that they can sell anything now. They have more paid users in the US (only) as compared to Spotify, but their app is trash. I don’t think Apple cares about being the “best” in anything anymore - they have enough of a base now to sell sell sell.
 
It’s so annoying how you can’t just search for things which you have saved offline. You simply have you browse through the list of it rather than just quickly typing in a song name to search.

You can, if you drag down from the very top of the list or playlist, you’ll get a “Filter” search bar. But agree they need to refine their search option better though for offline mode.
 
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This kinda reminds me of the “android has more market share than ios” argument. Even through the reality is that iOS rakes in more money.

1) Spotify still has yet to turn a profit.

2) Apple has a higher market share in countries like the US where it’s more lucrative.

3) Paid subscriber numbers are getting pretty meaningless when Spotify is offering discounts like $1 for 3 months, or bundling their services free left and right. Yes, this might pad their subscriber numbers, but it does nothing for their bottom line.

We will see how sustainable this is in the long run.
 
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I love Spotify but there are still a few things that really annoy me about it, mostly regarding the offline mode.

It’s so annoying how you can’t just search for things which you have saved offline. You simply have you browse through the list of it rather than just quickly typing in a song name to search.

And it’s also so irritating how you can go onto an artist’s page and view all of their albums separately when offline. It just puts them all in one big list instead.

Why does their offline mode suck so much?

Maybe not a perfect solution, but you can search within a Playlist, even offline by swiping down when you are at the top of the list
 
The only reason we signed up for Spotify Premium is because of the Hulu bundle for $9.99 plus tax.
That was a huge benefit for me. I was already oaying for both and was actually paying for the no ad plan on hulu but canceled my hulu and hulu through spotify. I might have to watch a few ads now but I saved a lot of money with this.

Also for anyone who says that Apple wins because they have more Piad subscribers, imagaine what it would be if apple actually had a free option. It's more impressive to me that Spotify has that many paid Subscribers while also having a free tier than how many Apple paid subscribers there are with out one.
 
The only thing I hate with Spotify which is why I also have Tidal is the music quality is horrible. I have decent sound system and headphones and there is massive massive difference in quality. I use Spotify to listen to new music and have my spotify playlist sync to tidal
 
The more people who are paying for music, the better. There is room for both Spotify and Apple Music.

Spotify’s Hulu offer shows us how Apple might proceed with AppleTV+. My guess is that AppleMusic and AppleTV will be offered as a bundle.

Apple is getting killed vs Spotify for the following reasons:

Non linear and confusing Apple Music app!
Partnerships that entice Gen X & Z; Tinder, IG, FB, and similar social media app connections. Example, not having an IG business account I cannot even select an Apple Music song within iMovie for iOS to attach to a 30 second video. There is also no way to tag a song with a very decent audio UI link on my pic/video upload ... you know to add personality to my workout regimen.

Apple needs to fix this and stop less on Beats1 for a while, just for a while.

PS: posting beats1 links on twitter is NOT good enough.
 
I post in these “Spotify” news threads each and every time to post the same thing.

People using Apple Music over Spotify are really, truly missing out on some great new music discovery. Nothing Apple has touches their “Discover Weekly” and “Release Radar” playlists. Their algorithms are off the chain and the user experience is just so much better.
[doublepost=1556562906][/doublepost]

Their act together?

The Apple Music product you see now is the final product. Lazy, unintuitive, clunky and unpleasant to use.

To me, Apple Music is one of the largest failures. But it’s proved Apple’s theory — that they can sell anything now. They have more paid users in the US (only) as compared to Spotify, but their app is trash. I don’t think Apple cares about being the “best” in anything anymore - they have enough of a base now to sell sell sell.
What you are saying is true. Their installed base is huge and loyal and they can get away with less that great.

I hope, really hope, they resist that temptation moving forward and get back to making everything insanely great. Hope being the key word.
 
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This kinda reminds me of the “android has more market share than ios” argument. Even through the reality is that iOS rakes in more money.

1) Spotify still has yet to turn a profit.

2) Apple has a higher market share in countries like the US where it’s more lucrative.

3) Paid subscriber numbers are getting pretty meaningless when Spotify is offering discounts like $1 for 3 months, or bundling their services free left and right. Yes, this might pad their subscriber numbers, but it does nothing for their bottom line.

We will see how sustainable this is in the long run.
And no one likes a pussycat company crying about fees they must pay in order to use another company’s ecosystem.
 
I used Spotify for years but then got a free trial with Apple Music and haven't looked back. AM was terrible to begin with and none of my friends have touched it — again, I think this is because everybody started with Spotify way before AM launched which means it's almost impossible to win over those users. I also think the bad reviews of early AM has hurt it... people still think it's awful, which...

...I don't think is true. Sure, there are some features that are lacking in AM which I hope they incorporate soon but, overall, I believe it has massively improved over time and it feels like they're intent of continuing this run. I'm a happy AM fan and find the layout to be far more user friendly than Spotify which, when I use it now, I find feels very claustrophobic. AM is more visual, more space to let things breathe.

Of course the integration with HomePod is great and I also love using it on Apple TV too.

It's not perfect, but it is much improved and once they roll out the new 'For You' section to everybody I think it'll be another leap forward for the service.
 
This kinda reminds me of the “android has more market share than ios” argument. Even through the reality is that iOS rakes in more money.

1) Spotify still has yet to turn a profit.

2) Apple has a higher market share in countries like the US where it’s more lucrative.

3) Paid subscriber numbers are getting pretty meaningless when Spotify is offering discounts like $1 for 3 months, or bundling their services free left and right. Yes, this might pad their subscriber numbers, but it does nothing for their bottom line.

We will see how sustainable this is in the long run.
Is Apple turning a profit?

Please list other countries where Apple has more paid subscribers, based on your "more lucrative" criteria.

Apple has same offers. I had one with my EE contract for six months.

Comparing Spotify with Android is meaningless.
People pay a subscription, end of. There are no further revenue streams to be made, such as app purchases.
 
Is Apple turning a profit?

Please list other countries where Apple has more paid subscribers, based on your "more lucrative" criteria.

Apple has same offers. I had one with my EE contract for six months.

Comparing Spotify with Android is meaningless.
People pay a subscription, end of. There are no further revenue streams to be made, such as app purchases.

It’s every bit relevant.

I find that way too many people here love to equate marketshare with success versus profitshare as that’s what real success is about. If you are not making money you will not be around for the long haul, plain and simple.

Conversely, Apple Music doesn’t need to be profitable (at least not right away) because it’s there to help sell more Apple hardware, alongside other Apple services.

https://s22.q4cdn.com/540910603/fil...rterly/2018/q4/Shareholder-Letter-Q4-2018.pdf

If you look at their Q4 2018 earnings, it appears that Spotify’s growth comes mainly in Europe and Latin America, and basically any country which doesn’t have a strong iPhone presence. In contrast, Apple is likely finding growth in the U.S. and a few of the largest countries where iPhone has decent share (I am guessing Canada and UK, amongst others).

Their ARPU also continues to decline, which suggests that Spotify’s next marginal customer is different than Apple Music’s next marginal customer.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is going on. Thanks to the iPhone, Apple has aggregated the best customers, and it has managed to also monopolise the best customers for itself when it comes to getting them to sign up for Apple Music instead of Spotify. Leaving Spotify with having to expand to developing countries where they aren’t able to charge as much due to their lower earning power. Which I find is a catch-22 situation for Spotify.

You all want to help and support Spotify? Pay full price and encourage everyone around you to do likewise. All these promotions are honestly not helping their bottom line one bit.
 
It’s every bit relevant.

I find that way too many people here love to equate marketshare with success versus profitshare as that’s what real success is about. If you are not making money you will not be around for the long haul, plain and simple.

Conversely, Apple Music doesn’t need to be profitable (at least not right away) because it’s there to help sell more Apple hardware, alongside other Apple services.

https://s22.q4cdn.com/540910603/fil...rterly/2018/q4/Shareholder-Letter-Q4-2018.pdf

If you look at their Q4 2018 earnings, it appears that Spotify’s growth comes mainly in Europe and Latin America, and basically any country which doesn’t have a strong iPhone presence. In contrast, Apple is likely finding growth in the U.S. and a few of the largest countries where iPhone has decent share (I am guessing Canada and UK, amongst others).

Their ARPU also continues to decline, which suggests that Spotify’s next marginal customer is different than Apple Music’s next marginal customer.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is going on. Thanks to the iPhone, Apple has aggregated the best customers, and it has managed to also monopolise the best customers for itself when it comes to getting them to sign up for Apple Music instead of Spotify. Leaving Spotify with having to expand to developing countries where they aren’t able to charge as much due to their lower earning power. Which I find is a catch-22 situation for Spotify.

You all want to help and support Spotify? Pay full price and encourage everyone around you to do likewise. All these promotions are honestly not helping their bottom line one bit.
I am unsure what "you all want to help and support spotify" is supposed to mean. Unclear who I am being lumped in with :)
I originally a couple of years ago signed up to Spotify via a 3 month offer and continued to the full price tier, like the majority of users are on. I also pay Spotify through their Web site direct. Apple are very strong in the UK with providing 3 to 6 month offers through lots of products. I had a 6 month Apple Music trial with EE. I was "subscribed" to Apple Music according to my EE account. So I will certainly have been included in Apple Music subscriber lists. A 3 month free subscription to cast BTSport was listed as "free trial" on my EE account.

I suspended Spotify when I took up the EE offer but re-subscribed after about 4 months because Apple Music was an inferior product on an Android device. No gapless playback. Seriously! Even the display not rotating to landscape mode just shows sloppy programming. And its "For You" music playlists (cannot recall the actual name) were mince compared to Spotify which has far superior algorithms for this purpose.
It's anecdotal, but all the people in my wider circle of friends who stream are on Spotify, (one on Tidal) irrespective of phone OS. All saying the music curation for personal tastes is really good.

BTW, the majority of the subscriber people I know are into Prog Rock. I don't think Apple even know what that is.

Edit: Majority not minority :)
 
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Spotify is way better than Apple Music, with Apple Music I don’t know what’s my music, what’s downloaded is totally confused. The only thing Apple Music has is individual song download, I don’t know anyone that listens to whole albums I certainly don’t, I want to download a song by song and build playlists

A good summation. Most people will listen to an album once released. Traditionally and for the most part still, artists release a single (which may or may not be on the album) prior tot he album release. It’s to give ya a “taste” of what’s to come.

Listen to the album choose what y like or don’t. Build your playlist.
 
Spotify is way better than Apple Music, with Apple Music I don’t know what’s my music, what’s downloaded is totally confused. The only thing Apple Music has is individual song download, I don’t know anyone that listens to whole albums I certainly don’t, I want to download a song by song and build playlists

A good summation. Most people will listen to an album once released. Traditionally and for the most part still, artists release a single (which may or may not be on the album) prior tot he album release. It’s to give ya a “taste” of what’s to come.

Listen to the album choose what y like or don’t. Build your playlist.
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The first part of your post you're saying that Spotify is better because on Apple Music you don't understand what's your music, even though there's an entire dedicated tab called Library which only shows your music, and a selector that shows you only what's downloaded.

The second part of your post is saying that Apple Music is better than Spotify in that you can download individual songs.

But Spotify is better? Quite the case you make there. :rolleyes:

Actually he makes perfect sense and great argument. When you. Have a mix of music locally syncd from iTunes and Apple Music on iOS there is a HUGe confusion.

When I leave my condo, and start playing music form my headset, first Music app doesn’t play form the last playlist I’ve used or the last track I’ve been listening too. It ALWAYS seems to play randomly from the “Library” which is mixed. This always ends up trying to play a track in my “Library” that has not downloaded over Wi-Fi (since I’ve restricted Apple Music from carrier data) I hear nothing. I have to unlock my iPhone to find out.

2 screenshots - Library>Songs listed alphabetically and usually auto played this way you can see how frustrating it is to press Next several tones in the 2nd screenshot before music plays which initially makes me think my AirPods are not working.

I get so VEXED with this!
 

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A good summation. Most people will listen to an album once released. Traditionally and for the most part still, artists release a single (which may or may not be on the album) prior tot he album release. It’s to give ya a “taste” of what’s to come.

Listen to the album choose what y like or don’t. Build your playlist.
[doublepost=1557171356][/doublepost]

Actually he makes perfect sense and great argument. When you. Have a mix of music locally syncd from iTunes and Apple Music on iOS there is a HUGe confusion.

When I leave my condo, and start playing music form my headset, first Music app doesn’t play form the last playlist I’ve used or the last track I’ve been listening too. It ALWAYS seems to play randomly from the “Library” which is mixed. This always ends up trying to play a track in my “Library” that has not downloaded over Wi-Fi (since I’ve restricted Apple Music from carrier data) I hear nothing. I have to unlock my iPhone to find out.

2 screenshots - Library>Songs listed alphabetically and usually auto played this way you can see how frustrating it is to press Next several tones in the 2nd screenshot before music plays which initially makes me think my AirPods are not working.

I get so VEXED with this!
If you've restricted Apple Music from using carrier data why don't you just download all your tracks then? You then wouldn't have the issue of many of your tracks not playing.

An easy way to do this, is in iTunes create a playlist, add all your tracks. Then on your phone download all to the phone.

However I will agree your issue has not been seen by me. My phone will always continue to play what I was last playing UNLESS it's been a very long time and that memory has been lost due to other apps RAM usage.

But pointing out various pros and cons keep these companies on their toes looking to improve their services for us!
 
If you've restricted Apple Music from using carrier data why don't you just download all your tracks then? You then wouldn't have the issue of many of your tracks not playing.

An easy way to do this, is in iTunes create a playlist, add all your tracks. Then on your phone download all to the phone.

However I will agree your issue has not been seen by me. My phone will always continue to play what I was last playing UNLESS it's been a very long time and that memory has been lost due to other apps RAM usage.

But pointing out various pros and cons keep these companies on their toes looking to improve their services for us!

Great question. I’m unable to rapidly determine which songs are cloud or local, and your good suggestion isn’t very feasible on the device as I’m sure you’re aware hence suggesting to use iTunes. Strange though that I’d have to use iTunes for an efficient way to classify or separate local & purchased music I own vs streaming music.

I definitely don’t wish to have all my music into one playlist and can remove later on; deleting a playlist isn’t made clear if it’ll delete downloaded music or not though. Since I need to rebuild my playlists I’ll do that before I crash tonight after the gym. Thanks for the tip :)
 
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