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Apple on the back foot is how I like them. I subscribe to Apple Music but I'm considering leaving for now.
 
It's really different strokes for different folks. Just as I think 2700 tracks is a tiny music library and you think it is large enough, surely you can understand that for others spending $10/Mo is a very small amount for what they are getting.

My existing library is over 2700 tracks so I don't really need any more.
 
That is wrong. Spotify offers the best sound quality and bitrate of all three. Apple and GPM are both limited to 256kbps audio, while Spotify goes up to 320kbps with premium, and once Spotify implements a Hi-Fi option, that'll be even better.

No, a higher bitrate is not the end of the story the codec used for compressing the music and even the equalizer used are too. Spotify uses OGG Vorbis (equilivent or slightly worse than MP3) with a choice between 96kbps, 160kbps, and 320kbps however the sound is the most compress of them all (specially because of their normalized sound feature turned on by default), Apple Music is m4a (aac) at 256k and uses the ios equalizer which is enough to offer a superior sound compared to an mp3 IMO.

Apple Music streams songs at the same quality as iTunes downloads
http://mashable.com/2015/06/30/apple-music-sound-quality/#OGEVKH3zFaq2

Main problem with Apple is the buggy user interface specially if you are on Windows, regarding that feature, user interface, which can make it almost unusuable for many users, Spotify is far superior IMO.

But i'm not gonna try to convince you that will be pretty tiring, you need to try them all first and choose your favorite.

About Spotify implementing a Hi-Fi option, those are good news but i really doubt it would be implemented world wide soon but that would mean that we will see Apple and Google music offering the same quality in the future too.

What am i using right now? Well last month i gave a try to Apple music in order to see if they have fixed their bugs but no, they are all still there + new ones for free, main problem right now is they are not listening their customers.
iTunes 12.3.3 fonts size are now way too BIG!
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7501342?tstart=0

Right now i'm using Spotify for 1 month in order to see what's new which is nothing so next month i'll be back to Google Music, which is mp3's quality but in my very personal opinion less compressed sound and a little better sound compared to Spotify but inferior compared to Apple Music also i get Red Tube (no adds on youtube) + Play Music (being able to upload 50,000 personal songs for free and streaming them).

Being fair there's no perfect stream service currently out there, all have different pros and cons and at the end of the day each user decides for himself.
 
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I use it too, but unfortunately there's no youtube Red here in Canada, because google hates Canuckistan and treat us like a 2nd world nation (MOST of googles paid services aren't available in Canada).

I'm on a third world country and i have Red Tube, ha take that!
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I think it is more accurate to say Apple is waking up and smelling the coffee with this one.

yes but they don't lack sleep because of that believe me....
 
I just started Apple Music - loving it. There are many things that could be improved in the interface, but hopefully they will be addressed over time. I used to listen to Spotify but was so put off by the super irritating (very loud) ads that I never tried a subscription - hopefully their success will prompt Apple to get their act together and increase the pool of streamers. This is pretty much the first time I've paid for recorded music in 20 years so I think it's a net win for all music and will eventually pull hundreds of millions of people in. Though probably in larger bundles with TV and films.
Getting the paid version of Spotify removes the ads...
 
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No, a higher bitrate is not the end of the story the codec used for compressing the music and even the equalizer used are too. Spotify uses OGG Vorbis (equivalent or slightly worse than MP3) with a choice between 96kbps, 160kbps, & 320kbps however the sound is the most compress of them all (specially because of their normalized sound feature turned on by default), Apple Music is m4a (aac) at 256k and uses the ios equalizer which is enough to offer a superior sound compared to an mp3 IMO.
Once again, incorrect. Spotify has had the normalized volume feature turned OFF by default for quite a while now. You need to brush up on your knowledge of Spotify IMO. By the way, I don't care if Apple Music uses the iOS equalizer since Spotify offers an equalizer on iOS as well, so that's not new.
 
OGG Vorbis (equilivent or slightly worse than MP3)
Nope. Tests for about 2 decades has put it ahead of MP3 and AAC, though it is behind LE-AAC at low bitrates. Apple does not use LE-AAC however.

Furthermore, at a compression ratio of ~1/4 - you don't lose much data regardless of codec; keeping in mind that lossless compression techniques are around 2/4 to 3/4.
Codec matters mainly at lower bitrates - where compression ratios are much higher.
 
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An average Spotify or Apple Music subscriber spends close to $120 a year on music. I am sure the vast majority would not have done that without these services.

Also; people tend to leave out the fact that the number of paying subscribers today is nowhere near the number of people who bought physical music back in the day. The music industry will never, ever get back to the money that was made in the 70s, 80s or early 90s simply because music now competes with so much other stuff for the same share of disposable income.

Especially among younger people, traditionally one of the pillars of music related spending, things like Netflix, new phone every year, cell phone subscription, apps, internet subscription, portable computers for use at school and so on eats away at the money that 30 years ago did not have much more to be spent on than music and going to the movies.
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You have been able to do that for years on Spotify. There are also services that submits your songs to a wide range of streaming/downloading services for a tiny one-time fee, leaving you with the full payment from the services if you own all the rights. You don't need a record company today if you don't want to.

That's all a very shortsighted view. Things come and go. Smartphones and Netflix won't be much of a thing in 30 years time either. Music has been with us for a very long time and people have shown they value it. Right now we're going through a delivery issue, not a monetary one. If the internet died tomorrow, believe me, physical sales would rebound overnight. People and music are as old as man itself.
 
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Well, Apple Music is good. Spotify is good too. They're both good!

Not so long ago, there was no legal way to listen to an album, a band, or even a song, without buying the single or album — or hoping the radio plays it.

It's much better now. I love how easy it is these days for people to legally discover and listen to new music. And sure, it may not financially benefit the artist as much as they'd like.

But simply a confirmed number of song plays on a streaming application is infinitely more tangible than an album floating on a torrent website.

YouTube
 
I have Amazon through Prime, I have Spotify through Vodafone, but I only use Apple Music. I find it much better, easier to integrate with car audio systems as well such that the phone doesn't have to be touched as it appears as just an iPod.
 
Neil Cybart (Very smart apple analyst) made a note on his podcast that "paying" includes people who got Spotify for free because they subscribed to the NYTimes.

Can anyone verify?

If that is the case then the number Spotify gives is not nearly as valuable as it would seem on the surface.

Overhere, Spotify is also sold as part of the cable network bundle of KPN.
 
Glad to see Apple getting spanked. Their apps for Apple Music are horrendous, especially on Windows and Android. iTunes on my Mac is a piece of junk as well. Meanwhile Spotify works brilliantly on every device I use it on, including streaming while playing games on PS4. Apple can't touch that.
 
Until Apple can up their game and start offering better music suggestions for me to discover, I will not be leaving Spotify. I still love the user created playlists that you can search and follow on Spotify.
 
The biggest driver for me sticking to apple (I use iTunes Match instead of Music) is that I can plug my phone into my idrive interface and it picks up my songs and plays them via playlists. As I understand my car would not recognize another app vs builtin music service via iTunes.
 
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LOL - Just shows the sheep who want to pay for something when they get nothing in return in a tangible form. Fools.

I resent that comment. Have you ever rented a car? An apartment? A movie? Netflix? Hulu? Well, how foolish. :rolleyes:

A streaming music service works great for me. I couldn't possibly fit my entire collection on my phone. Ripping and managing music is a time consuming pain. I also couldn't possibly afford to buy all the albums I listen to streaming.
 
That was more than a year after music launched...and nothing to do with the existence of Apple Music or competition in streaming
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It's not selective, it's accurate, rather than your made up memory.

This has nothing to do with gripes about the 30% cut Apple were taking, but we are discussing whether Spotify griped about the existence of Apple Music which they did not; they said it was good for streaming overall and subsequently Spotify
Did I mentioned streaming competition from my original posts? No! I just mentioned Spotify wants a free ride to provide through Apple's services. But since you mentioned competition I'm sure they're worried when Apple Music was released. That's why they cried because Apple Music has advantage over not paying 30%, but they own the service to begin with. Whatever it is competition is always good and I found Apple Music suits best for my family needs. If you like Spotify a lot just stay in there, nobody convinces you to leave. You feel like you're in defensive mode all the time. Makes me wonder if you work for the company or have an interest for the company. :rolleyes:
 
Once again, incorrect. Spotify has had the normalized volume feature turned OFF by default for quite a while now. You need to brush up on your knowledge of Spotify IMO. By the way, I don't care if Apple Music uses the iOS equalizer since Spotify offers an equalizer on iOS as well, so that's not new.

Incorrect, i just resubbed 3 weeks ago and installed the app on my devices, phone and PC all had the normalized volume feature turned ON. I had to make some research about improving the Spotify sound and i found advices about DISABLING that feature in order to obtain a less compress sound because the one Spotify uses by default is just cra#$#.

I don't need to brush anything, Spotify was my first streaming service before any Apple Music or Google Play Music even exist, they were pioneers i applaud that.

I DO care about the equalizer, the Spotify one is more or less (still inferior than the iOS one IMO) but at least includes one, Google Play Music doesn't even have one.
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Nope. Tests for about 2 decades has put it ahead of MP3 and AAC, though it is behind LE-AAC at low bitrates. Apple does not use LE-AAC however.

Furthermore, at a compression ratio of ~1/4 - you don't lose much data regardless of codec; keeping in mind that lossless compression techniques are around 2/4 to 3/4.
Codec matters mainly at lower bitrates - where compression ratios are much higher.

So you are pretty much saying that a Spotify Premium streamed song has more quality than the same song bought on Apple Store as an iTunes plus file?... I totally disagree but everybody is entitled to have their personal opinion though...

BTW guys although i use a streaming music service i still buy physical cd's for the music that matters to me, if i want the best sound i'm gonna play the CD and no i don't give a cent about vinyl but that's a different story...
 
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Incorrect, i just resubbed 3 weeks ago and installed the app on my devices, phone and PC all had the normalized volume feature turned ON. I had to make some research about improving the Spotify sound and i found advices about DISABLING that feature in order to obtain a less compressed sound because the one Spotify uses by default is just crap.

I don't need to brush up on anything, Spotify was my first streaming service before Apple Music or Google Play Music even existed. Spotify were pioneers, I applaud that.

I DO care about the equalizer, the Spotify one is more or less (still inferior than the iOS one IMO) but at least includes one. Google Play Music doesn't even have one.
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So you are pretty much saying that a Spotify Premium streamed song has more quality than the same song bought on Apple Store as an iTunes plus file?... I totally disagree but everybody is entitled to have their personal opinion though...

BTW guys although i use a streaming music service i still buy physical cd's for the music that matters to me, if i want the best sound i'm gonna play the CD and no i don't give a cent about vinyl but that's a different story...
Well, for me, the normalized volume feature is turned off by default. I must've turned it off at some point and it's kept my setting across fresh reinstalls of the Spotify applications. Although, the normalized volume feature is meant to keep the volume at the same level across all songs, it's not meant to (as far as I know) reduce sound quality.

And, that is exactly what they are saying. I've personally gotten better sound quality out of Spotify's versions of songs than I have with Apple Music, and I have a trial with Apple Music until early April, at which point it expires. I've been testing both, and Spotify reigns supreme in terms of quality. I don't know what your devices are doing but Spotify has superior quality in all the tests I've done. And sure, you can still buy CD's, no one stops you from doing that. You give artists more money to make better music. No harm in doing that.
 
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I totally disagree but everybody is entitled to have their personal opinion though...
Yours is an opinion. Mine a fact.
has more quality than the same song bought on Apple Store as an iTunes plus file
Uh, yes. The M4A format was chosen after all for its DRM capability. Apple has since thrown out the DRM, but stuck with the audio codec. Because of the diminutive differences between codecs at high bitrates - they've never felt bothered to switch. Especially since competitors still tend to either use MP3, or the same M4A format.
 
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Did I mentioned streaming competition from my original posts? No! I just mentioned Spotify wants a free ride to provide through Apple's services. But since you mentioned competition I'm sure they're worried when Apple Music was released. That's why they cried because Apple Music has advantage over not paying 30%, but they own the service to begin with. Whatever it is competition is always good and I found Apple Music suits best for my family needs. If you like Spotify a lot just stay in there, nobody convinces you to leave. You feel like you're in defensive mode all the time. Makes me wonder if you work for the company or have an interest for the company. :rolleyes:

I have zero interest in the company or your serendipitous version of history...sorry
 
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