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I played a cd, a mere 16/44, in my car and then the Spotify version and my daughter was astounded at the difference. Let’s go Spotify I want lossless!

Keep in mind that Spotify default streaming quality settings are set to lower bitrate (so it can start streaming faster). Try maxing them up and retest it with your daughter, if you like. You both may be surprised.
 
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Disclaimer: I use both.

I never understood the hate on the AM algorithm. Has anyone (that has used the service for more than a couple months) simply searched for a song to play and clicked the infinity sign and let AM play similar music to that selected song.

By doing this and the "create station" option I find SO MUCH NEW MUSIC. It just isn't what people expect via that playlist method, but it serves the same purpose.

I agree 100%. I used both for years and switched to AM full time about a year ago. Spotify’s suggestions seem weighted towards brand new music and pay for play while Apple feels more organic and includes a wider spectrum of artists. It will pull in a suggestion from 10 years ago that makes sense and I love while Spotify rarely or ever did that. I also find that I like a higher percentage of AM’s suggestions compared to Spotify… far fewer skips with AM.

AM pays their artists more so that’s why I landed there.
 
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I like Spotify much better than Apple Music personally. But Verizon covers my AM subscription so that is what I use. When/if I switch from Verizon to a different carrier or if Verizon changes their business model, I'll go back to Spotify.

I actually don't care at all about lossless or spatial or anything like that. I just like Spotify's UI, playlists, and the whole experience better. Everything is in one app. Etc.
 
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Disclaimer: I use both.

I never understood the hate on the AM algorithm. Has anyone (that has used the service for more than a couple months) simply searched for a song to play and clicked the infinity sign and let AM play similar music to that selected song.

By doing this and the "create station" option I find SO MUCH NEW MUSIC. It just isn't what people expect via that playlist method, but it serves the same purpose.
I've heard that Apple Music can be prone to just recommending pop to everyone. IDK how true that is.

Personally I mostly use AM for Japanese music and I find it to be pretty decent. Spotify was pretty good at it too.
 
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I dropped Spotify two years ago over sound quality. Their offering just hasn't kept up with the competition.

If you're listening over bluetooth headphones, the bit depth, sample rate and file type (compression related) differences won't be as apparent. But if you listen in a desktop environment, with good speakers, and a good quality DAC, I think you'll hear the difference. I sure did, especially in high dynamic range recordings.

Here's an interesting comparison of Spotify and Apple Music from Tom's Guide:


And here's a useful source of information on the dynamic range of many recordings:


FWIW, my current favorite is Qobuz. With Apple moving to higher quality files last year, and the upcoming classical app, I'll probably give Apple Music another look.
 
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Not many mentions for Amazon Music in this thread. IMO this is the superior service.

My observations using iPhone 13 Pro...

Its a close race but Amazon Ultra HD sounds truer to the actual recording than Apple Hi-Res Lossless. Apple masters a lot of their tracks to prevent clipping - which may be the difference I'm hearing.

Amazon has more tracks >16/44 than Apple.

With Amazon, can listen to Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality without having to buy Apple's headphones. Use any headphone or speaker!

Apple uses server-side validation for every request, making it slow and unresponsive (wait in line for your request to be processed by the server). Amazon is zippy fast by comparison, almost zero lag time.

Apple playlists are abundant! Too many in fact. Its overwhelming and causes me to create my own playlists - which takes time. Its as though Apple Music was designed to keep people glued to their screens.

Amazon playlists are usually pretty great, as if I made them myself in many cases. Easy to quickly find something to listen to.

Swipe left/right on the album art to skip to previous/next track. Tap the album art to see options. So much easier than the tiny buttons on Apple Music.

Amazon's "X-Ray" feature is nice, no need to scroll to the bottom of the lyrics to find out who wrote the song.
 
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I gave Amazon a try awhile back and liked it.

I went with Qobuz because, at the time, they had more high-res content and I liked their user interface better.

I give Amazon credit for rolling out a high quality catalogue at a reasonable price.
 
Wondering how did it change so that it prevented them from having lossless? It did change for me:) I moved from Spotify to Tidal after 10 year of using spotify.
 
Disclaimer: I use both.

I never understood the hate on the AM algorithm. Has anyone (that has used the service for more than a couple months) simply searched for a song to play and clicked the infinity sign and let AM play similar music to that selected song.

By doing this and the "create station" option I find SO MUCH NEW MUSIC. It just isn't what people expect via that playlist method, but it serves the same purpose.
I started with Spotify and when it recommends songs… it is really spot on. I’ve been using Apple Music now for about 3 years solid, every day because of my Apple One+ Subscription and regularly listen to the 3 playlists it’s gives me, Favourites, New Music and My Station. I have given up on New Music because it’s just songs it wants me to listen to, and not what interests me.

I have certainly found some new artists that are now my staple, but I’ve done much better with Spotify and YouTube.
 
I played a cd, a mere 16/44, in my car and then the Spotify version and my daughter was astounded at the difference. Let’s go Spotify I want lossless!
Yea and that CD is just 1.44Mbps without comoression, so a lossless ogg/vorbis would probably be less thst is not a great deal of bandwidth theses days. Ofc when you scale it to Spotifys user base that"s still a lot of Gbps in agrigate hmm...
 
The percentage of users that has playback equipement capable to distinguish between standard def and loss less is less than 5%.
The number of listener ears that can distinguish between 320kb/s Ogg Vorbis and lossless can safely be rounded to 0%.
This is about marketing.

There are resources that help you do tour own ABX tests. Strongly recommended.
 
A higher bit rate would probably cost more, I don’t believe Spotify is even profitable yet, shareholders are probably getting frustrated, so the real reasons seem obvious.
 
I don’t believe Spotify is even profitable yet
That is correct. They have resorted to rent seeking with the EU government and blame Apple for their inability to make money.
 
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In Canada, we are finally getting Qobuz this year. Another lossless service. I have given up on Spotify for lossless. I keep it for family use and some tracks that are not available on Amazon. Also occasionally listening to their curated playlists for discovery.

Aside from that, sound quality is #1 and I opt for Amazon pretty much whenever I'm listening myself. Spotify rarely gets opened nowadays. I also tried Tidal, but the MQA is problematic both on principles and it's sonic signature. Solid discount with Amazon and Prime as well.
 
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