There are several great divides in pop culture. Are you team Edward or Jacob? TikTok or Instagram Reels? Pepsi or Coke? And last but certainly not the least, Spotify or Apple Music?
The latter is one sure to spark heated debates among friends, family members and strangers in TikTok comment sections. Each streamer’s users are loyal and often staunch in their backing of it. Accordingly, if you’re looking to sign up to one of the platforms, finding unbiased advice on which is best can be difficult.
While Spotify and Apple Music have a lot in common—and both will provide you with what you’re after: tunes on-demand—each have their own distinct features, too.When you’re paying for a streaming service each month you want to ensure it’s the best option for you, and decoding these differences can be a lot.
Luckily, we’ve done the hard yards and put together a handy breakdown, to help you decide if you want to pledge allegiance to Spotify or Apple Music.
Related: Cassette Tapes, Wired Headphones and Vinyls Are Cool Now, Actually
spotify or apple music: At a glance
Firstly, let’s get across the features of both.
Spotify
PROS
- Music, podcasts, and audiobooks are all contained in the one app
- Blends, aka combined playlists created in collaboration with other users
- Daylists, aka algorithmically-curated playlists that update several times a day (and come with funny, ultra-specific titles)
- Spotify wrapped, which is practically one of the biggest social media events of December
- There is a free version—although, it means you’ll have to cop ads every few songs
CONS
- Shuffle feature can be repetitive, likely because Spotify allows artists to boost songs, therefore influencing the algorithm
- Interface can be difficult to navigate
Apple Music
PROS
- Bigger catalogue, with over 100 million songs compared to Spotify’s 80 million
- Enhanced surround sound quality
- Apple Music Radio, aka live radio shows
- SharePlay car feature means all passengers in a car with an iPhone can control the music
- Exclusive content from artists
- Genre-specific playlists updated weekly
- Can be purchased as part of a bundle, AppleOne, that allows access to Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and iCloud+—however, this will cost you extra
CONS
- Podcasts in seperate app
- Algorithmically-generated playlists only updated weekly, compared to Spotify’s daily (or more)
- Apple Music Replay is less comprehensive than Spotify Wrapped
- No free version
Sound Quality
The one feature where Apple Music wins out is in sound quality. The app has a lossless audio, which means the all of the audio’s original data has been preserved, and sounds just how it did when it left the artist’s mastering engineer or production team.
Apple Music also has a fancy “Spatial Audio” feature. This is a version of surround sound that places sounds in different locations, making it feel as though you’re immersed in the music.
That’s not so say Spotify’s sound quality is bad, though, it’s just not quite as good. Unless you’re a total music aficionado ,chances are you won’t hear the difference. Spotify had announced plans in 2021 to launch “Spotify HiFi,” which would compete with Apple’s lossless audio. However, it’s yet to be launched.
Cost
Spotify and Apple Music don’t differ too much in cost.
For an individual user, Apple Music will cost you $12.99 per month. Spotify is marginally more expensive, with the Individual Premium plan costing $13.99 per month.
Each app also comes with a range of cost-effective sharing plans, as well student discounts.
Apple Music has a Family Plan, which allows you to share your account with up to five people with each member getting a personal account. It is $19.99 per month.
Spotify’s Premium Duo plan costs $19.99 per month, and allows for two users. The Premium Family plan costs $23.99 per month.
Both streamers’ Student Plans are $6.99 per month.
Podcasts
One of Apple’s downfalls is its podcasting set-up.
Spotify allows users to access music, podcasts and audiobooks all in one app. Apple Music users must download a seperate app, Apple Podcasts, to get their podcast fix.
However, Apple Music does have exclusive radio shows in-app, which feature artists interviews and songs curated by hosts.
Playlists
Creating your own playlists on either Spotify or Apple Music is a relatively similar process. Where the apps differ is their algorithmically-curated playlists, which allow you to discover new music.
In addition to Spotify’s app-wide, genre-based playlists, it creates personalised “Daylists,” which are new music mixes generated based on your algorithm, several times a day. It also has an AIDJ feature, which is a personalised AI guide that combines a curated lineup of songs based on your listening habits, along with with an AI-powered voice that provides commentary about the recommendations.
Apple Music also has a variety of genre-based playlists, updated weekly and curated by an in-house team. It has algorithmically-generated playlists too, but they are updated weekly.
Social
Onto the fun features!
Spotify shines in the social space. The platform’s year in review, Spotify Wrapped, is a whole social media event come December. It provides users with data around their top artists (and how big of a fan they are, compared to other listeners), most listened-to songs and much more. The graphics are always funky and super shareable, too.
Apple Music has its own year in review feature, Apple Music Replay. It gives users the basics but doesn’t include as much data as Spotify’s (which could be a pro or a con, depending how you view it).
Spotify also has collaborative playlists, called Blends, and allows you to follow your friends’ accounts and see what they’re listening to. Apple Music recently rolled out a similar feature, but finding friends’ accounts in-app is less intuitive. In the latter’s favour, you do get a weekly playlist of music your friends are listening to.
Music Catalogue
Apple Music has more songs available to stream than Spotify, with 100 million to 80 million.
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so... is spotify or apple music better?
Whether or not you should opt for Spotify or Apple Music really depends on what you want from your music streamer. Overall, Apple Music’s sound quality is better and its music catalogue is broader, so it’s a good bet for music lovers. However, Spotify’s social features are more engaging so if you want your listening to be an event—or you simply want to flex your good taste to friends—it might be the better choice for you.
